Sportsbook.com Posts NHL Semi-Final Odds
Sportsbook.com, the world's largest online sportsbook and casino, has posted odds on the NHL's Eastern Conference semi-final match-ups. The Ottawa Senators are big -280 favorites against the upstart Buffalo Sabres while the red hot New Jersey Devils come into their series with the Carolina Hurricanes as -175 favorites, despite being the lower seed. Ottawa and Carolina battled for supremacy in the Eastern Conference all season long, but while Ottawa easily dispatched of the defending champions, Tampa Bay, in five games, Carolina looked less than convincing in their come from behind six game victory over the Montreal Canadiens. New Jersey on the other hand comes into the second round riding a 15 game winning streak, including a sweep of the New York Rangers, who they outscored by a 17-4 margin. Riding the red hot scoring of Patrik Elias, who leads all players with 11 playoff points in only four games of action, and the best playoff goalie of the last generation, Martin Brodeur, New Jersey seem the logical choice as favorite.
"The NHL playoffs have been as exciting as always so far and there are some amazing match-ups in the second round," says Alex Czajkowski, Sportsbook.com. "Everybody bets on the playoffs and while Ottawa and New Jersey are favored, both series have the potential to go down to the seventh game, and then it's anybody's guess."
New Jersey and Ottawa are co-favorites to win the Stanley Cup at 3-1. Ottawa's odds have not changed since the beginning of the post-season, but the Devils have improved from 10-1. The other big movers after the first round are the San Jose Sharks who jumped from odds of 14-1 to 4-1, and the Edmonton Oilers, a 40-1 longshot before upsetting the Detroit Red Wings who know sit 15-1. San Jose has now become the favorite to win the Western Conference at 3-2, followed by Calgary at 3-1, assuming the Flames win tonight's deciding game against Anaheim.

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