Stanley Cup Betting: Secrets of a Hawks Victory
The Blackhawks might have had an imposing 2- lead in the Stanley Cup gambling thus far, however they faced an unenviable task of heading to Philadelphia for Game 3 of this hockey betting matchup and trying to steal a win on the road.
As good as this squad had seemed so far in Games 1 and 2 of this NHL wagering matchup, hitting Philly at home in the NHL playoff betting event this year has been all but impossible. This is, in fact, a #7 seed which has outdone the NHL probabilities the entire postseason starting with defeating the #2 seed Devils and then pulling off an incredible comeback after being down 3- and beating the Bruins.
But the Hawks are a far greater squad than any of the Eastern Conference teams the Philadelphia Flyers have confronted so far in the NHL playoff betting. The pressure was off Chicago, at least for game 3. Chicago did its part and defended the home ice edge in the first 2 games of the Stanley Cup betting competition.
The NHL odds makers supposed the Flyers to win at home and so do the blood thirsty Philly buffs. That’s a lot of stress on a serious stage like the Stanley Cup Finals, however it didn’t seem to have a negative effect on the Flyers performance.
A victory on Wednesday evening vs the Blackhawks is keeping the Philadelphia Flyers in the tournament. The 4-3 victory came at 5:59 into overtime thanks to a goal from Claude Giroux.
The win cut short a 7-game winning streak that the Blackhawks were relishing until Wednesday evening. Now, with the Stanley Cup Finals series at 2-1, the Flyers are back in the game while the Blackhawks still have enough of a lead to take the championship. The probabilities do favor Chicago, after all. Only 2 teams have lost the matchup anyway after winning the first 2 games at home. Only 4 teams have come back from a 2- hole to win the Stanley Cup Finals. On the other hand, the Blackhawks haven’t won the title since 1961 and the Flyers have more not too long ago in 1975. The odds do tend to favor the Blackhawks, although neither squad is exactly playing knockout games.
The Hawks just have to keep doing the things they were doing for the first two matches and look to get leading scorer Jonathan Toews (26 points in 18 NHL playoff wagering games) more involved. It’s evidence of the Flyers stifling defense that he’s only scored once in this series. But even devoid of Toews Chicago’s offense is operating only fine. He’s consistently pulling away the Flyers best defenders and it’s opened up scoring chances for players like Marion Hossa.
On defense things could get quite dirty and quite ugly real quick in this hockey betting series since the Flyers are likely to look to ratchet up the rough play a bit. But Chicago’s forwards are much larger (some of the greatest in the NHL probabilities competition) and more physical than any group the Philadelphia Flyers have played vs yet in the NHL betting post season and this approach could even backfire.
The Blackhawks didn’t have to win Game 3. They only need to stay cool and win in one of the 2 games in Philly to lock up the team’s first Stanley Cup wagering championship in a long time.
