2018 Stanley Cup Finals: Washington at Vegas NHL Odds for Game 2

The Vegas Golden Knights are now just three wins away from setting history as an expansion team, as they would be the first team in NHL history to win the Stanley Cup in its first season. It’s been 50 years since an expansion team even made the finals, but St. Louis got mowed down by Montreal in four games in 1968. Monday night saw Vegas and Washington swing back and forth, with the game tied at four in the third, before Vegas skated away with the 6-4 win. Game Two  of the 2018 Stanley Cup Finals is set for Wednesday night from Sin City, so be sure to check out our NHL odds preview before you finalize your wagers for the action.

2018 Stanley Cup Finals: Washington at Vegas NHL Odds for Game 2

The @Capitals know how strong they are, and they know what they’ve got to do in Game 2. #StanleyCup https://t.co/9YK9yqGQME

— NHL (@NHL) May 30, 2018

When: Wednesday, May 30, 2018, 9:00pm ET Where: T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, NV TV: NBC Sports Radio: WFED 1500 AM Washington / KRLV 1340 AM Las Vegas Live Stream: NBCSports.com Stanley Cup Finals Odds: Washington (+135) / Vegas (-155)

Why should you bet on the Capitals?

Washington has a ton of pressure on them in this series. They carry the hopes of a city that has gone 27 years without a sports title, and they have plenty of choking in their own history, with two conference semifinals losses to Pittsburgh in seasons where they were expected to win it all after capturing the President’s Trophy for most points in the regular season, and they haven’t made a Cup Final in 20 years. Washington has done a good job of making adjustments to bring series back. In their opening series, they dropped the first two against Columbus and then won the next four. Against Pittsburgh, it took seven games, but they won the key matchups, including the overtime thriller in the elimination game. Against Tampa Bay, they won the first two, went down 3-2, and then won the last two by a combined 7-0 score. So they can turn things around in a hurry.

Why should you put your money on the Golden Knights?

There is absolutely no pressure on Vegas in this series. The Golden Knights are truly playing with house money (pun intended) in this, because no one expects an expansion team to go this far — but here they are. They also have a home atmosphere that is absolutely nuts, as T-Mobile Arena is a raucous barn, and the game presentation in Vegas is ridiculous. The evening begin as five people with Capitals flags removed a CGI fireball from a real trebuchet. Vegas has an offense that is relentless. Four of the five goals that the Golden Knights scored (the sixth being an empty-netter) came from point-blank range, as the Capitals’ defensemen just got taken apart behind the goal line, and Vegas took advantage time after time, and Vegas won the battles and took advantage of the mistakes. That offense is just as relentless on the fourth line as it is on the top line, as we saw when that line produced the go-ahead goal at the 9:44 mark of the third period, as Tomas Nosek found the net. That sort of depth will bring results time after time for the Golden Knights.

Expert Pick and Final Score Prediction

Vegas is a no-name lineup that keeps producing thanks to effort from top to bottom in their roster. Their goalie, Marc-Andre Fleury, was unusually porous in Game One, but give some credit to Washington’s high-powered offense. Also, Fleury had started to show some signs of taking on water in the San Jose series and in the opener against Winnipeg. I expect that he’ll tighten things up in Game Two. On Washington’s end, I expect them to make the defensive adjustments that will keep them from giving up so many silly pucks deep in their own end, and the nerves that are rattling on both sides for a Cup Final will calm as well. I predict a tighter game — and a 3-2 Vegas win.