By Dan Cancian
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The field for the 2019 NHL playoffs is set and bookmakers believe the Tampa Bay Lightning will be the team lifting the Stanley Cup this season.
According to Sportsline.com and BetOnline, the Bolts are 9/4 and 5/2 favorites to clinch a second Stanley Cup in their history after the one they won in 2004. The odds might seem unusually short for the start of the playoffs, but it is hardly surprising to see the Lightning being the runaway favorites for the title.
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Tampa Bay won 62 games in the regular season, only the second team to achieve the feat after the 1995-96 Detroit Red Wings. Tampa Bay won an incredible 30 games on the road this season, the second-highest number of away wins ever recorded during the regular season after the 31 games the Red Wings won in 2005-6.
Behind the Lightning, who will face the Columbus Blue Jackets in the first round, the field is wide open.
The Calgary Flames are second favorite at 8/1, followed by the Boston Bruins at 9/1. The Flames went 50-25-7 this season, ending the regular season with the second-best record in the league and in the first round of the playoffs face a Colorado Avalanche team that has won just 38 games this season.
The Bruins, meanwhile, finished with the second-best record in the Eastern Conference behind Tampa Bay but face a difficult opening round against Toronto. The Bruins have eliminated the Maple Leafs in the playoffs twice in the last six years, the most recent meeting coming in the opening round of last year's playoffs.
Recent history might count against Toronto but the third-seeded Maple Leafs have a talented roster and the 20/1 odds seems ungenerously long.
After Boston, the Washington Capitals and Winnipeg Jets are both 10/1. The former hope to become the second team in a row to defend the Stanley Cup after the Pittsburgh Penguins won it in 2016 and 2017, while the Jets missed out on the Central Division title by a point and look like a dark horse going into the playoffs.
The Vegas Golden Knights, meanwhile, are a curious case. Last season, the Golden Knights reached the Stanley Cup Final in their first year in the league and this year they finished third in the Pacific Division.
However, while Sportsline has them as an 8/1 second favorite to win the Stanley Cup, their odds plummet to 20/1 with BetOnline.
While those odds seem perhaps too long, repeating last season's dazzling run to the Finals could be difficult for Vegas, which faces tricky first round matchup against division rivals San Jose Sharks, who have the home ice advantage.
Complete odds 2019 Stanley Cup odds
5/2—Tampa Bay Lightning
8/1—Calgary Flames
9/1—Boston Bruins
10/1—Washington Capitals, Winnipeg Jets
12/1—Nashville Predators, San Jose Sharks, St Louis Blues
20/1—Carolina Hurricanes, New York Islanders, Pittsburgh Penguins, Toronto Maple Leafs, Vegas Golden Knights
25/1—Colorado Avalanche
28/1—Dallas Stars
33/1—Columbus Blue Jackets
...
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