Written by Graeme & Scott on Monday, May 30th, 2016
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And then there were two.
We’re down to the San Jose Sharks vs the Pittsburgh Penguins to crown the 2016 Stanley Cup Champions.
The Penguins got here by coming 2nd in the Metropolitan Division behind the Washington Capitals. In what was expected to be a very tough battle, especially with injuries, the Penguins wiped the floor with the New York Rangers destroying them 4-1 including two wins at Madison Square Garden.
They went up against the favourites to win the cup, the Washington Capitals and beat them 4-2 over the series to move onto the Eastern Conference final. This proved to be their trickiest matchup yet but the HBK line stepped up and the Penguins took it in 7 games.
The Sharks only came 3rd in the Pacific Division. They went into the series against the Kings as decent underdogs – especially with the Kings having home ice advantage – but got a massive 4-1 win over them. They went up against the Predators next and had a tougher challenge but won the series 4-3 with some incredible dominant performances.
Finally it was the Western Conference final and the Sharks won 4-2. One of their losses was a game they dominated and the other loss was when the Blues threw in Jake Allen and that briefly changed the momentum.
Scott This is going to be a great finals between two high offense teams.
The Sharks have 4 of the top 5 scorers in the playoffs. They are averaging 3.50 goals per game and they are hungry for a cup. The Sharks have never won the Cup and don’t have a cup winner on their roster.
The Penguins are a deep team with plenty of weapons and are arguably the fastest team in the league. Crosby and Malkin get all the attention but the HBK line has been tremendous this postseason and can take over a series by themselves. The defense could be a problem for the Penguins with Trevor Daley done for the year leaving Letang to carry all the weight.
This will be a great finals. The talent rich Penguins are the favorites to come away with the Cup but you can’t count out the Sharks. Thornton and Marleau are both looking for the first Stanley Cup of their 18 year NHL careers and you know the team wants to win it for them as much as they do for themselves. This could go either way but with the odds being decent for a San Jose win and the team having never made it to the finals before I like their chances.
Sharks Win
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Graeme: The thing that really stands out for me is just how dominant the Sharks have been – even in some of the games they lose.
The Penguins have had some fine victories but they have looked inconsistent and many of their wins has me on the edge of the seat as the other team pounds their goal and they’re unable to defend and are relying on a strong goaltending performance. That’s great for watching – but not good from a team performance standpoint.
I think these are going to be some incredible games and insanely fast paced. It’s going to be amazing from a viewing perspective and I’ll probably place my series bet, then blindly bet Over 5 or Over 5.5 in every single game just so I can sit back and enjoy.
It’s really cool thinking of the Penguins when they first began the season – how the coaching change changed their fortunes – and where they’re at now. But I just think the Sharks are the better team barely – and the fact that they’re underdogs makes it all the more lucrative.
Sharks to win
Quick Note for Americans: For Euro 2016 Betting, go toBovada who offer a 50% to $250 bonus and the best markets for Euro 2016.
Im With The Penguins to win The Cup, But I backed them up at 4.40 against the capitals at the time …
Not going to be easy but I’m gonna stick with the experience, even with the defense problem it’s gonna be tight because the speed is going to help in most occasions and I still like to see the kid Murray to rob a few games.
Tonight maybe value on the Sharks but an over seems very decent
Today I think its a low Scoring game… think they are going to try to get use to their system… so -5.5 Goals for me