By Dan Behringer for LVSportsBiz.com
For bettors, the Vegas Golden Knights at the Pittsburgh Penguins game on Friday looked like a prime time to recover some previous losses.
The boys in the gold-toned helmets had lost the first two games of their road trip and five of their last eight. Cashing tickets on the VGK, in other words, had become a rare occurrence.
And the odds on the Knights vs. the Penguins were tempting — a sweet +157. A handicapper at Covers.com noted all this, noted the Golden Knights’ respectable road record, the Pens’ less-than-stellar home record and saw value in the Golden Knights. Who would disagree?
But after 60 minutes of hockey, the Penguins defeated the Golden Knights, 5-2, and pinned them with their third straight loss.
Coach Peter DeBoer to reporters after the game: “It’s not like we’re getting outplayed for stretches here. I would argue we’ve probably had the better of play and chances most of the periods that we’ve played here. But you’ve got to stick pucks in the net, and you’ve got to keep them out of yours.”
That brought the VGK to their fourth straight game on the road Sunday vs. the Columbus Blue Jackets. After opening as high as -190, the Golden Knights closed as favorites in the -155 range with the Blue Jackets +130 — considering recent form and Knights’ injuries, a bit of a head-scratcher. Once again, the Golden Knights disappointed bettors in a 6-4 loss with 18-year-old rookie Cole Sillinger’s hat trick leading the Blue Jackets’ offensive assault. If you jumped on Columbus on the reverse puck line, it was obviously a good payday.
The Golden Knights (32-25-3-1) close their road swing with a game at the Winnipeg Jets (27-23-6-4) on Tuesday.
With the Golden Knights now in a precarious position for the playoffs, is a coaching change out of the question? Probably so this deep into the season. However, Gerard Gallant is thriving with the New York Rangers (37-17-3-2). He can be reached at (212) 465-6000.
Elsewhere:
— Madness betting: Gonzaga, the No. 1 overall seed, is generally from +300 to +350 to win it all in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. Arizona, the No. 1 South seed, can be had for anywhere from +600 to +650. Kentucky, a No. 2 East seed, is next in the +800 to +850 range. Baylor, the No. 1 East seed, is available from +1000 to +1200. Kansas, the No. 1 Midwest seed, is anywhere from +700 to +1300. Much further down at BetMGM, CS Fullerton and Bryant are both +500000 (5,000-1).
The Zags are generally -23.5 vs. Georgia State with the total at 148 in their opening round game on Thursday.
— NIT picking: With no bid to the NIT, the junior prom of tournaments, the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels season is officially over. Under first-year coach Kevin Kruger, they finished 18-14 and 14-17 ATS.
Rebels star Bryce Hamilton after the 59-56 loss to Wyoming in the Mountain West Tournament: “It hurts. We play so hard. We fought all year, especially this game.”
— More futures odds: Opening Day for Major League Baseball is set for April 7. At Covers.com, the Los Angeles Dodgers are currently +600 to win the World Series, followed by the Houston Astros at +900 and the Toronto Blue Jays at +921. Much further down, the Baltimore Orioles are +25000.
— Laugher of the week: Any chance you had a ticket on the Phoenix Suns in the NBA on Sunday night? The Suns were laying -7.5 vs. the Lackadaisical Lakers and rolled to an easy 140-111 win. That’s a cover by 21.5 points, relatively easy in the NBA. The over also crushed the total of 232.5.
LeBron James to Lakers Nation after the game: “I think when we get down, we’ve lost so many games that we feel like we can’t get out of the hole at times.”