By Dan Behringer for LVSportsBiz.com
For bettors scanning previews of Sunday’s game between the Vegas Golden Knights and the San Jose Sharks, the scenario was familiar.
It was another must-win game for the playoffs-challenged Golden Knights. And the price to bet on the Golden Boys was through the roof — an almost prohibitive -333 on the money line and an only slightly more appealing -130 on the puck line. The total stood at 6 or 6.5.
“I think we’re going to come out and play our best hockey this week,” DeBoer told reporters following practice on Saturday. “I like our group and I like our mindset.”
Timo Meier of the Sharks argued for the other side.
“I still want to do well in those last couple of games,” he said. “Especially (Sunday), biggest game of the year against Vegas. We can maybe knock them out of the playoffs.”
Meier’s comment turned out to be prophetic. The Sharks rallied from a 4-2 deficit to stun the Golden Knights and 18,367 fans at T-Mobile Arena in a shootout, 5-4.
DeBoer after the game: “It’s a tough way to lose a point after we put in quite a bit of hard work. But we’ve got no time to sit and worry about it. You hope that it doesn’t cost us a playoff spot. If it does, that’s a tough one to sleep on all summer.”
Now, it’s another huge game, on the road Tuesday vs. the Dallas Stars who are also fighting for a playoff berth. No official line for the game yet though obviously both betting lines will be very close, and the total will again be around 6.
Elsewhere:
— No Betting Allowed: The NBA conference quarterfinals have produced their share of favorites covering, underdogs upsetting and totals going over or falling well short. Many professional and aspiring professional handicappers agree the NBA is one of the hardest sports to handicap. Hence, the waggish term No Betting Allowed.
We did happen to notice one eyebrow-raising trend, however: The Golden State Warriors covered, and the total went over in all three of their first playoff games vs. the Denver Nuggets. But if you too noticed the trend, would you have played it again on Sunday afternoon in the game featured on national television?
The Warriors were -5 with the total at 224.5. One part of the parlay clicked one more time — the total, which easily cruised past 224.5. But it was the Nuggets who won, 126-121.
”We needed that,” Kerr told reporters. ”I felt like we got completely away from the game plan tonight in the first half, because I think we were almost too anxious to win the series.
Game 5 is Wednesday.
— Red-hot Dodgers, lowly Reds: At TeamRankings.com, the Los Angeles Dodgers continue to set the pace in Major League Baseball with an 11-4 record, 73.3 percent win percentage and +1.4 run differential. The New York Mets are right behind with 12-5 record, 70.6 win percentage and 1.1 run differential. Bringing up the rear are the woebegone Cincinnati Reds, who stopped an 11-game losing streak with a 4-1 win over the Cardinals on Sunday.
”There was a lot of celebration going on today,” Reds manager David Bell said to reporters. ”It was obviously a big win.”
Just not enough to escape the clutches of the worst record in the majors: 3-13, an 18.8 win percentage and a -1.4 run differential.
The Dodgers’ average margin of victory is 2.9 runs. The Reds are losing games by an average of 2.6 runs.
— UFC clash: There are familiar names to mixed-martial arts bettors in UFC 274. Reigning lightweight champion Charles Oliveira (31-8-0) opened as high as -205 but has been bet down to about a -160 favorite vs. Justin Gaethje (23-2-0), who is now generally +130 on the buyback.
The bout is May 7 at the Footprint Arena in Phoenix.
— Laugher of the week: If you got up relatively early on Saturday to play the Pittsburgh Pirate at the Chicago Cubs over the total, you were justly rewarded. With the wind blowing out at Wrigley, the total nudged up from 9.5 to 10 to 10.5. The Cubs won, 21-0. The Pirates were unable to even tack on a consolation field goal.
”I like 21 anyway we can get it,” Cubs manager David Ross told The Associated Press.