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The St. Louis Blues fell just short of winning the Western Conference during the regular season, but now they'll turn their attention to the playoffs and try to pay off for supporters on the Stanley Cup odds over the next two months.

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Anyone who grabbed the Blues as a big long shot at Bovada early this season has to be excited about their chances of a big payout this spring right now, as the Blues righted their ship behind head coach Ken Hitchcock and went 49-22-11 for 109 points and a Central Division crown.

First up for St. Louis in the playoffs this week will be the San Jose Sharks, who edged the Los Angeles Kings 3-2 in overtime on Saturday night to earn the conference's seventh seed with 96 points. San Jose and St. Louis met four times during the regular season and the Blues won all four of those contests while holding the Sharks to just three total goals.

Los Angeles' loss on Saturday puts them into a matchup with the top-seeded Vancouver Canucks this week, who are also atop the Western Conference teams on the NHL futures. The defending conference champions hoping to get forward Daniel Sedin back from his head injury for the playoffs. Canucks GM Mike Gillis said last week that he expects Sedin to be on the ice at the outset of the postseason.

The Phoenix Coyotes won the Pacific Division crown during the regular season with 97 points, but they now have to face a sixth-seeded Chicago Blackhawks team in the first round that racked up 101 points. The Coyotes went 3-1 against Chicago this season.

Finally, the four vs. five matchup in the Western Conference has the Nashville Predators taking on the Detroit Red Wings, with the Preds edging the Wings by two points in the standings to earn home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs. Detroit has lost two straight games to Nashville, and went just 17-21-3 on the road this season.

You can probably bet the farm that the most physical and intense first-round Stanley Cup playoffs series will be between the hated Pennsylvania rivals from Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, with the Pens hosting Game 1 on Wednesday night in the best-of-7 series. Pittsburgh is a -210 series favorite on Bovada’s NHL hockey odds and a -170 favorite for Game 1.

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Despite finishing with the third-most points in the NHL behind Vancouver and the New York Rangers, it’s Pittsburgh that is the Stanley Cup favorite at the book at 4/1, with the Canucks and Rangers right behind. The Penguins are only the fourth seed in the East because the finished behind the Rangers by a point in the Atlantic Division and the three division winners in each conference are the top three seeds regardless of point totals. The Flyers are the No. 5 seed and they finished with more points (103) than every team but the Pens and Rangers.

Pittsburgh and Philly simply don’t like each other and this will be the third time in the past five years they have faced off in the playoffs, with the Pens winning the other two. The last meeting was in the East quarterfinals in 2009 with the Pens winning in six games on the way to the Stanley Cup.

Of course Pittsburgh was one-and-done in last year’s playoffs while playing without the injured Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. But both are playing their best hockey right now. Crosby was limited to 22 games but still had 38 points for his highest points-per-game total of his career. Malkin won the scoring title with 109 points and finished second with 50 goals – he’s almost a lock to win the Hart Trophy. Pittsburgh finished No. 1 in goals this season.

The Flyers have had a goalie carousel the past two postseasons but that won’t be the case this year with Ilya Bryzgalov in net. He was somewhat up and down this season but closed strong with 10 wins and four shutouts in March. He finished 33-16 with a 2.54 goals-against average and a .909 save percentage. However, Bryzgalov was torched by the Red Wings in last year’s playoffs while with Phoenix. Philly will have no trouble matching Pittsburgh’s firepower as the Flyers were No. 2 in scoring this year, led by Claude Giroux’s 93 points (37 goals).

Philadelphia won the season series 4-2. And the Penguins have beaten the Flyers just once in six meeting since at Pittsburgh’s Consol Energy Center, which opened last season. That victory came in Saturday's regular-season finale that was essentially meaningless. The favorite for number of games in this series at Bovada is six at +190. The Pens to win in six are 15/4, while Philly in six is 6/1.

It’s not easy to repeat as the Stanley Cup champion in the NHL. In fact, no team has repeated as champions since the 1997-98 Detroit Red Wings, and no club has won a second straight Cup after winning its first in a seven-game finals since the 1987-88 Edmonton Oilers.

That’s the challenge facing the second-seeded Boston Bruins as they open their Eastern Conference quarterfinals series Thursday night against No. 7 Washington. The Bruins are -180 home favorites for Game 1 and -225 on the series line at Bovada’s NHL hockey odds.

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The Bruins ended the season strong, going 9-2-1. Despite not having Nathan Horton for the final 36 games of the season due to a concussion (he’s done for the year), Boston actually scored more goals this season than last. Second-year center Tyler Seguin is having a breakout year and six players have 50 or more points. The Bruins have scored six or more goals 13 times this season and are the league's top-scoring team at five-on-five. They have six 20-goal scorers, the most of any team in the league. David Krejci had a career-high 23 goals; last season he was the playoffs’ leading scorer last year, with 23 points, including 12 goals.

Washington better get a lead in Game 1 as Boston is 32-0 this season when leading after two periods. The disappointing Caps, who fired coach Bruce Boudreau during the season, didn’t even clinch a playoff spot until No. 81. They were able to land a No. 7 seed because Ottawa went in the tank at the end of the year. The Caps just got back No. 1 center Nicklas Backstrom after he missed 40 games with a concussion. His return can only help Alex Ovechkin, who finished with 38 goals and a team-leading 65 points, which aren’t numbers up to his usual standard.

Boston should have a massive advantage in net in reigning Vezina Trophy and Conn Smythe winner Tim Thomas. The 38-year-old wasn’t quite as good as last regular season but still finished this season with 35 wins, a 2.36 goals-against average and a .920 save percentage. The Caps, at least to start the series, will have to turn to rookie Braden Holtby (4-2-1, 2.49, .922). He has only played in 21 NHL games in his young career. He starts due to injuries to Tomas Vokoun and Michal Neuvrith; the latter could be back in a few games.

The Capitals won three of the four meetings this season, including both in Boston (one in a shootout).

There is simply no sugarcoating what happened to the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference Quarterfinals series against Philadelphia: The Pens choked. Now it’s a must-win on Friday for Pittsburgh before the series shifts to Philly. The Penguins are -215 favorites on Bovada’s NHL hockey odds and there will be live betting available at the book.

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Pittsburgh jumped out to a 3-0 lead after one period on Wednesday, with the first goal coming from Sidney Crosby. But the Flyers’ Daniel Briere scored twice (one in the second, once in the third period) to make it 3-2 and rookie Brayden Schenn tied it at 12:33 of the third. And Jakub Voracek beat Marc-Andre Fleury from in close 2:23 into overtime for the stunning victory. It was Pittsburgh’s fourth straight playoff loss as a favorite.

Philadelphia did lead the NHL with 20 victories when the opponent jumps in front during the season. It was the sixth time in franchise history that Philly had rallied from a three-goal deficit to win a playoff game. The Flyers were 7-22-3 when trailing by two or more goals in the regular season.

Ironically, Briere had missed the final week of the regular season after taking a hard hit from Pittsburgh's Joe Vitale during Philadelphia's 6-4 win at Consol Energy Center on April 1. His availability for Wednesday was in doubt until earlier in the day. Briere is money in the playoffs as he has 61 points in 58 career postseason games with Philadelphia.

Philly might be in the Penguins’ heads. The Flyers have only lost once in seven visits to the Consol Energy Center since it opened at the start of last season. And four times since March 18, the Penguins have held a lead of two goals or more against the Flyers – and three times they've lost. The only time they won was last Saturday, in a game that meant really nothing (and is Pittsburgh’s only win at Consol Energy Center against Philly).

Pittsburgh also must fix the power play. In getting ousted in last year’s first round by Tampa Bay, the Pens were 1-for-35 with the man-advantage and 0-for-25 at home. On Wednesday they were 0-for-3, while Philly was 1-for-1 – that one goal was Schenn’s that tied the game.

Also what NHL had the best start early on and failed to make the playoffs in the biggest drop?

It doesn't need to be the first game, but it pretty much has to be one of the first two. A 2-0 series hole is a lot to climb out of and sets the table for what will undoubtedly be a pair of tough must-win games at HP Pavilion. We've crunched the numbers pretty heavily over the last couple days so let's go with the psychological route here-- two straight losses to this Blues team, bringing the Sharks overall record to 0-6 against them this year, is an element that compounds the already inherent difficulty of winning 4 out of your next 5.

So far so good for the Boston Bruins in their defense of the Stanley Cup as the B’s held serve in Game 1 thanks to Tim Thomas and they are -185 favorites for Saturday afternoon’s Game 2 in Beantown with live betting available on Bovada’s NHL odds.

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The Bruins took Game 1 on Chris Kelly’s long slapshot 1:18 into overtime that beat the Caps’ Braden Holtby. Thomas stopped all 17 shots he faced for Boston to earn his sixth career playoff shutout -- four of them coming in last year’s Cup run. His last shutout was was Game 7 of the Cup finals last June 15 in Vancouver when Boston finished off the Canucks, 4-0. The Capitals are now 5-11 in their last 16 overtime playoff contests.

But Holtby, a third-stringer making his playoff debut because of injuries to Tomas Vokoun and Michal Neuvirth, was even better in many regards, making 29 saves. Holtby played in only seven games this season, but he started five of Washington's final 10 games and finished with a 2.48 goals-against average. The Caps plan to keep their lines intact for Game 2 despite just those 17 shots.

Star Alex Ovechkin attempted only two shots and one was blocked, so technically just one officially. In his career, Ovechkin has been limited to one shot or fewer on goal only five times in the playoffs. The Capitals are 1-4 in those contests. Those 17 shots on net are the fewest the Caps have mustered in any of the 38 Stanley Cup playoff games they’ve played since Ovechkin’s NHL career began.

Boston’s David Krejci was injured in a freak accident during Thursday’s game when a pane of glass fell and hit him – celebrating fans had dislodged the glass. Krejci missed Friday's practice with a sore neck but is expected to play on Saturday.

The reigning Western Conference champion Vancouver Canucks, the team with the most points in the NHL again this season, can all but kiss their season goodbye tonight if they don’t go to Los Angeles and beat the Kings, who are up 2-0 in their playoff series. The Kings are -120 favorites on Bovada’s NHL hockey odds and there is live play-by-play betting available at the book.

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It’s clear the Canucks desperately miss Daniel Sedin, and he won’t be playing in Game 3 either. Sedin, the team's leading goal scorer, has missed the last 11 games with a concussion suffered March 21 during a 2-1 overtime loss to the Blackhawks. He didn’t even make the trip to Los Angeles, although the club is hoping he can perhaps get back if the Canucks can get the series back to Vancouver. But in reality he’s probably out for the series. Sedin was the anchor of the team’s power play unit but the Canucks are just 4 for 52 with the man advantage since he was injured, including 0 for 10 in the first two games of the series.

The Kings aren’t quite counting their chickens yet. Two years ago, the Kings were within a period of taking a 3-1 series lead against the Canucks. But they lost Game 4 at home and were outscored 11-4 in the final two games. The Kings have not won at home in the playoffs since Game 3 against the Canucks in 2010 (lost five straight home playoff games). This is just the third 2-0 series lead in franchise history for the Kings — the first since 1976, and the first ever on the road.

The Canucks have lost six of their last seven playoff games going back to last year’s Stanley Cup finals — and for the first time in franchise history, the Canucks have opened a playoff series with two home losses. Vancouver never trailed in a playoff series last year before Boston’s victory in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals.

It’s possible if not likely that Canucks coach Alain Vigneault makes a change in net as Roberto Luongo has given up seven goals to the 29th scoring team in the NHL. Backup Cory Schneider has outplayed him for two months – Schneider is 10-3-1, with a 1.54 GAA and a .949 save percentage since the All-Star break.

With one win apiece in their best-of-seven Eastern Conference set the Boston Bruins and the Washington Capitals will both be looking to get a leg up on Monday night when the teams meet in Game 3 of the series. Get your NHL odds for the postseason today.

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Washington came into the series as a big underdog on the NHL betting lines at Bovada, but the teams are now tied at 1-1 after the Capitals pulled out a 2-1 win in Boston in Game 2 on Saturday afternoon.

Nicklas Backstrom scored in overtime for Washington on Saturday to give his team the win, with Troy Brouwer adding a Capitals goal in the second period. Washington goaltender Braden Holtby made 43 saves on 44 Boston shots in the contest as he continues to play ahead of injured netminders Tomas Vokoun and Michal Neuvirth for the club.

Benoit Pouliot was the only Bruins skater able to beat Holtby on Saturday, finding the back of the net in the third period to send the game to the extra frame. Tim Thomas blocked 37 of 39 Washington shots on the afternoon.

The Bruins won Game 1 of the series 1-0 in overtime last week on a Chris Kelly goal, with Thomas making 17 saves for Boston and Holtby stopping 29 pucks for Washington.

On the updated Stanley Cup futures board at Bovada the Bruins sit at 8/1 to win the championship once again this season, and at 4/1 to win the Eastern Conference. The Capitals are at 20/1 to claim the Cup and 12/1 to come out on top in the East this year.

After playing on Monday the Bruins and Capitals will get a two-day break before returning to the ice in Game 4 of the series on Thursday night.

Considered contenders to win the Stanley Cup in NHL odds, both the Vancouver Canucks and Pittsburgh Penguins are on the brink of elimination after both losing Game 3 on Sunday.

With the return of Sidney Crosby and Evegni Malkin leading the NHL in scoring, the expectations was the the Penguins were poised for another title run. But after a wild three games the Penguins are on the one game from being swept by the Philadelphia Flyers. Sunday’s contest got out of hand in the first period, after a Pittsburgh goal at 3:52 the Flyers scored the next three, taking a 4-2 lead and never leading go. Pittsburgh couldn’t keep up for 60 minutes and lost the game 8-4. Those who took the OVER in this series are cashing in, as all three games have gone over the Total.

''All three games were kind of weird games,'' Flyers right winger Danny Giroux said. ''I guess I like weird games because we always finish by winning.''

The Canucks weren’t in a shootout like the Penguins, but the results were the same. Vancouver was shutout by L.A. Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick, the Kings went on to beat the Canucks 1-0. Cory Schneider started in net for Vancouver, and did an admirable job, unfortunately the Canucks couldn’t generate any offense and are currently 0-14 on the power play in the series. The Kings haven’t been to the playoffs for 11 years, and now they may pull off one of the biggest first-round upsets in playoff history.

''This team has been trying to put pieces together for the last six years,'' said Kings center Dustin Brown, who also scored the game-winning goal. ''It's been a long road, and I really think it's only just starting for us. Going into the series, did this group believe we could beat them? Definitely. We never thought we were going to be up 3-0 in a series against a team that's pretty well dominated this league for the last two years. Still, it's three games, and it takes four to win.''

The Penguins and Canucks try to stay alive on Wednesday. Check the Bovada Sportsbook for the latest NHL Playoff odds!

Nothing short of winning the franchise’s first Stanley Cup was considered acceptable this season for the Vancouver Canucks after coming up just short in last year’s Finals against the Boston Bruins. But is it possible that a first-round stunning sweep to the Los Angeles Kings could lead to the firing of Vancouver coach Alain Vigneault?

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Bovada has released a NHL hockey prop on whether Vigneault will be the Canucks’ coach for Game 1 of the 2012-13 season and yes is the -200 favorite, with no at +150. It’s hard to imagine the team would fire Vigneault after he has led the Canucks to the Presidents’ Trophy the past two seasons. But Vancouver’s performance in the Western Conference quarterfinals has been nothing short of stunningly bad against L.A. and a shakeup could be coming.

The Kings were 29th of 30 teams during the season in goals per game but have outscored the high-powered Canucks 9-4 heading into Wednesday night’s Game 4. And for the first time this series, the Kings are game favorites at -125 on Bovada’s NHL odds.

But there is good news for Vancouver. Daniel Sedin, who led the team with 30 goals during the season, has been sidelined since suffering concussion on an elbow to the head from Chicago’s Duncan Keith in a hard-hitting game March 25. But Sedin has been cleared to practice and will on Tuesday. Henrik Sedin clearly misses his brother. Henrik managed just one shot and lost 13 of his 18 faceoffs in Game 3.

While a No. 8 seed has upset a No. 1 seed more than a handful of times in the NHL playoffs, no team in the expansion era has failed to win one postseason game after finishing with the NHL's best regular-season record. It’s likely but not a sure thing that Vigneault will again go with No. 2 goalie Cory Schneider over Roberto Luongo in Game 4 after Schneider’s strong performance in place of Luongo in Game. 3.

The Nashville Predators will be looking to pay off the NHL odds again on Tuesday night this week as they take on the Red Wings in Detroit in Game 4 of their first-round playoff series.

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Nashville knocked off Detroit by a score of 3-2 on the road in Game 3 of the series on Sunday afternoon, giving them a 2-1 advantage in the best-of-seven set. That also improved the Predators to 9/1 on the Stanley Cup futures at Bovada, with the Red Wings back at 16/1 on that list as they try to erase their series deficit.

Shea Weber, Kevin Klein, and Sergei Kostitsyn all scored for the Predators in Sunday's win, with Kostitsyn providing the winner late in the third period. Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg (in the last minute of the game) replied in the loss for the Red Wings.

Pekka Rinne made 41 saves for Nashville on Sunday; Jimmy Howard had just 19 stops for Detroit.

The Red Wings had been listed as -144 favorites at home on the NHL betting lines for Sunday's game, in what turned out to be the third straight PUSH on the OVER/UNDER for totals bettors in the series.

The Predators won Game 1 of the series last Wednesday night by a 3-2 score as a -123 home favorite, then lost Game 2 by that same 3-2 score last Friday as a -109 home favorite. Overall the Predators and Red Wings have split their last 10 meetings 5-5, with the OVER/UNDER going 2-4-4 for totals bettors in those 10 contests.

Nashville defenseman Hal Gill remains day-to-day with a lower-body injury, while Red Wings forward Darren Helm has been lost for the year with a forearm injury.

One of the leaders on the Stanley Cup futures entering the NHL playoffs, the Vancouver Canucks now find themselves one loss away from elimination as they prepare to take on the Los Angeles Kings in Game 4 of their first-round series on Wednesday night.

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The Canucks have slipped from favorites to longshots on the NHL betting line at Bovada as they've dropped each of the first three games of their Western Conference quarterfinal series to the Kings – just the eighth seed in the conference entering the postseason.

Vancouver's most recent loss came on Sunday, when they were beaten 1-0 in Los Angeles thanks to a 41-save shutout performance from Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick. Dustin Brown had the only goal in the contest, beating Cory Schneider in the third period.

Schneider was in nets for the Canucks in Game 3 after starter Roberto Luongo lost Games 1 and 2 at home last week; Los Angeles won both of those games by scores of 4-2, and they were listed as road underdogs on the NHL lines at Bovada in each of the contests.

For Sunday's game the Kings were pegged at -115 at home in an easy UNDER result for totals bettors. Overall the OVER/UNDER has gone 2-5-3 in the last 10 meetings between the two Western Conference clubs.

The Canucks played the first three games of the series without star forward Daniel Sedin, who has been out with a concussion; getting Sedin back for Wednesday's game would be a huge boost for Vancouver's sinking fortunes.

Puck drop for Wednesday's game is set for 10:00pm ET in Los Angeles, and if the Canucks can pull out the win they'll return to Vancouver for Game 5 on Sunday. Game 6 would then be next Tuesday night in Los Angeles, with a Game 7 in Vancouver next Thursday night.

The Phoenix Coyotes can take a commanding 3-1 lead in their Western Conference quarterfinal series with the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday night if they can pay off on the NHL betting lines and win Game 4 on the road.

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Phoenix grabbed a 2-1 series lead in Game 3 on Tuesday night, winning 3-2 in overtime on a goal by Mikkel Boedker. That marker, however, was overshadowed by a hit on Marian Hossa by Raffi Torres which sent the Chicago forward to the hospital on a stretcher. Hossa suffered an upper body injury, and the team hasn't said much about his status.

Torres, though, was suspended indefinitely by NHL disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan on Wednesday afternoon and won't be in the lineup for Game 4 on Thursday night.

Ray Whitney and Rostislav Klesla also scored on Tuesday for the Coyotes, with Klesla also adding a pair of assists after picking up just 13 points in 65 games in the regular season. Phoenix goaltender Mike Smith made 35 saves on 37 Chicago shots in the victory.

Andrew Brunette and Michael Frolik had the goals in the losing cause for the Blackhawks, who had been pegged as -155 home favorites on the NHL betting lines on Tuesday night. Corey Crawford surrendered three goals on 34 shots in nets for Chicago.

Overall the Coyotes are now 5-1 in their past six games against the Blackhawks, with the OVER/UNDER going 2-3-1 in those contests.

And on the NHL futures at Bovada the Coyotes and Blackhawks were both listed at 18/1 to win the Stanley Cup heading into Wednesday night's action on the ice, with the clubs also tied at 9/1 odds to win the Western Conference.

After giving the scoreboard a workout once again on Wednesday night the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Philadelphia Flyers will resume their first-round series on Friday night with Game 5 at the Consol Energy Center. Get your NHL betting line for the games at Bovada.

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The Flyers had a chance to sweep the rival Penguins out of the playoffs on Wednesday, but instead Pittsburgh cut the series deficit to 3-1 with a massive 10-3 road victory as an underdog on the NHL lines at Bovada.

Seven different skaters scored for the Penguins in that lopsided victory, with Jordan Staal leading the way with three goals and Evgeni Malkin potting a pair of markers. Sidney Crosby, Pascal Dupuis, Kris Letang, Matt Niskanen, and Steve Sullivan also scored in that win for the Penguins.

Pittsburgh goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury wasn't spectacular on Wednesday – he gave up three Flyers goals on 25 shots – but he was much better than Philadelphia netminders Ilya Bryzgalov and Sergei Bobrovsky, who were each lit up for five goals on 18 Pens shots.

Bryzgalov got the start for Philly in that game, but was yanked early in the second period.

Claude Giroux, Kimmo Timonen, and Jakub Voracek scored on Wednesday for the Flyers, who were set at 13/2 at last update on the NHL odds to win the Stanley Cup this spring at Bovada. The Penguins, still trailing badly in the series, were pegged at 14/1 odds.

Wednesday's result was the fourth straight OVER result in this series for totals bettors, with the teams combining for 45 goals in the four contests. And the Penguins will get another offensive weapon back in the lineup for Friday's Game 5, as forward James Neal has now served his one-game suspension.

The Chicago Blackhawks were the only Western Conference team to be a series favorite in the first round of these playoffs, but the sixth-seeded Hawks’ season will end on Saturday night in Phoenix if Chicago can’t beat the Coyotes. Phoenix opened as a -135 favorite on Bovada’s NHL hockey odds.

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All four games of this series have gone to overtime, the first time the first four games of a first-round series have ever done that. Actually, the Blackhawks have played in a record six straight overtime playoff games dating to last season’s first-round loss to Vancouver.

Chicago battled back from a 2-0 deficit in Game 4 on Thursday only to see Mikkel Boedker score the winner for the second game in a row. Those are his only two career postseason goals. Phoenix won despite having only 19 shots on goal. For the second straight game, the Coyotes were without center Martin Hanzal and left wing Lauri Korpikoski, both of whom were injured in Game 2. Both are questionable for this one.

The Hawks played Game 4 without winger Marian Hossa, their leading scorer during the season. He was demolished in Game 3 on a vicious hit by Raffi Torres. Hossa won’t play in this one and probably not again this series. Torres remains suspended. Chicago’s Andrew Shaw also remains suspended.

Chicago’s best offensive players, not including Hossa, are Patrick Kane, Patrick Sharp, Jonathan Toews and Viktor Stalberg. That foursome has combined for just two goals in the first four games of the series. Toews, Kane and the normally shoot-first Sharp combined for only six shots in Game 4.

It’s quite possible that the Hawks will make a switch at as Corey Crawford has given up three goals in all four games. And the past two overtime goals he has allowed have been rather soft. Crawford has a 2.64 goals-against average and .900 save percentage in the series. Backup Ray Emery was 15-9-4 with a 2.81 GAA and .900 save percentage this season. He appeared in 18 road games, starting 15, and went 5-9-1 with a 3.36 GAA.

After going down 3-0 in a best-of-seven series the NHL odds definitely weren't in the Vancouver Canucks and Pittsburgh Penguins' favor. And though both gave fans hope, their innevitable fate was sealed on Sunday.
For the Canucks, momentum was in their favor most of Game 5. With the home crowd behind them to an early 1-0 lead with a Henrik Sedin power play goal at 14:04, and Cory Schneider held the Los Angeles Kings at bay for two periods.

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However, at 3:21 in the 3rd the Canucks D got lazy, and Brad Richardson was able to tie things up to force overtime. In OT Jarret Stoll beat Schneider with a wrist shot at 4:27 to give the Kings a 2-1 victory over Vancouver, knocking out the top-seeded Canucks in five games in the Western Conference first-round series. The Canucks dropped out in the first round after leading the NHL in regular-season points for the second straight year. Last season, they lost to Boston in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals. A big offseason question will be if the Canucks will stay with Roberto Luongo or switch to the younger, cheaper Schneider who has proven to be just as effective in the playoffs.

For Pittsburgh, their wild series against the Philadelphia Flyers ended in the same wild, high-scoring fashion we've seen the previous five games. Thirty-two seconds in the Flyers had their first goal, and by the second period they were up 4-1, cementing their ticket to the second round with a 5-1 finish. The Flyers had stormed out to a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven series before Pittsburgh won two straight. A day before Game 6, Flyers forward Scott Hartnell called out his defense and goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov said it was their turn to win a game. Bryzgalov came through with his best performance in the series, stopping 30 of 31 shots.

The Kings face the St. Louis Blues in the second round while the Flyers await the winner of the Florida Panthers/New Jersey Devils best-of-seven.

The Vancouver Canucks avoided the indignity of becoming the first winner of the Presidents’ Trophy to not win a single playoff game with their 3-1 win Wednesday in Los Angeles. Now the Canucks are back home for Game 5 on Sunday with the chance to send this series back to L.A. and shift all the pressure to the Kings. The Canucks are -165 betting favorites on Bovada’s NHL hockey odds.

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The difference between Game 4 and the first three was that Vancouver finally had star Daniel Sedin on the ice. The team’s leading goal-scorer during the season with 30, Sedin played 19:33 in Game 4 after missing almost a month recovering from a concussion. He assisted on brother Henrik's power-play goal.

Henrik Sedin wasn’t the same player without his brother and neither was the Vancouver power play. After going 0-for-14 during the first three games, Vancouver scored twice on three man-advantages in Game 4. In addition, Daniel’s return allowed the coaching staff to restore the other lines. During his absence, the Canucks tried several different combinations on the top line.

History is still against the Canucks. Of the 167 teams to fall behind 3-0 in the playoffs, only three have come back to win a series. The last was the 2010 Flyers.

The Kings’ offense, which was second-to-last in the NHL during the season, has vanished of late with just two total goals the past two games. L.A. was outplayed in Game 3 but won that one 1-0 thanks to goaltender Jonathan Quick standing on his head. But the Canucks’ goalie change from Roberto Luongo, who wasn’t good in losses in Games 1 and 2 in Vancouver, to Cory Schneider has been the biggest reason for that. There’s no chance the club will go back to Luongo now unless Schneider, who had 43 saves in Game 4, gets hurt.

The reason there is so much time in between Games 4 and 5 was because there are Coldplay concerts over the weekend at Rogers Arena.

When the 2012 Stanley Cup playoffs began a few weeks ago, the Pittsburgh Penguins were the overall betting favorites as well as in the East, while the Vancouver Canucks were the West favorites and second-favorites for the Stanley Cup behind the Pens. But both clubs will be watching the next round from their couches.

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Now the Bovada NHL betting favorites to hoist the Cup for the first time in franchise history are the St. Louis Blues at 4/1. The No. 2 seed also is the new Western Conference favorite (9/5) heading into a semifinal matchup with the No. 8 seed Los Angeles Kings (3/1 to win West) that begins Saturday in St. Louis. The Blues are -170 series favorites.

St. Louis lost Game 1 of its first-round series against the Sharks but won the next four. The series shifted when Blues goalie Jaroslav Halak, who started the first two games, suffered a minor injury in Game 2 and Brian Elliott was inserted. Elliott stopped 98 of 103 shots against the Sharks, after leading the NHL with a 1.56 goals-against average with nine shutouts in the regular season. He’s the guy now – in fact, Halak has already been ruled out of the first two games vs. Los Angeles with his undisclosed lower-body injury.

The Kings, meanwhile, stunned the Canucks in five games. Stellar goalie Jonathan Quick held the high-powered Canucks to just eight total goals. During the season Quick led the NHL with 10 shutouts and was second to Elliott with a 1.95 GAA and fifth with a .929 save percentage. The Kings scored two goals or fewer in 15 of Quick’s 34 losses this season. Needless to say, St. Louis was No. 1 in GAA this year, while L.A. was No. 2.

These two teams split four regular-season meetings, each winning once on the road. The Blues are -155 Game 1 favorites as they had the second-most home wins during the season. Los Angeles only had big trade acquisition Jeff Carter for one of those games and it was a 1-0 Kings win on March 12 in L.A. Carter beat Elliott in the fourth round of the shootout for the game-deciding goal. Elliott had 37 saves through overtime, while Quick had 35.

In three regular-season appearances, Quick had two shutouts against the Blues, allowing one goal on 95 shots for 0.33 GAA and .989 save percentage. In two appearances vs. L.A., Elliott was 0-0-1 with a 0.71 GAA and .977 save percentage. Carter didn’t score a goal in the first round vs. the Canucks. Dustin Brown was the offensive star with four goals and an assist. The Blues’ big gun in the last round was Andy McDonald, who had four goals and four assists.

This will be the third time that the Blues and L.A., who both entered the league as expansion teams in 1967, will meet in the postseason. The others were 1969 and 1998, and both times the Blues swept the Kings in four games.

After taking care of business against the Washington Capitals in the opener of their second-round series on Saturday the New York Rangers will try to extend their lead on Monday when the clubs hit the ice again in an NHL betting matchup at Madison Square Garden.

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New York paid off as a favorite on the NHL lines on Saturday afternoon with a 3-1 win over Washington at home, scoring a pair of goals in the third period to send their supporters home happy.

Artem Anisimov opened the scoring for the Rangers in the second period of Game 1, with the Capitals' Jason Chimera tying up the score at 1-1 with a marker seven minutes later.

Chris Kreider and Brad Richards then put the Rangers ahead for good with their third-period tallies. Capitals netminder Braden Holtby allowed those three Rangers goals on just 14 shots on the day, while Henrik Lundqvist stopped 17 of 18 Washington shots.

The combined score of four goals made Saturday's contest an UNDER result for totals bettors at Bovada, and the OVER/UNDER has gone 1-2-2 in the past five meetings between the two clubs; the Rangers came out on top in three of those five games. Get NHL betting lines of your own at Bovada.

Holtby has allowed three or more goals between the pipes for the Capitals in three of his last four starts, after giving up just one goal in three of his first four playoff outings. Overall the netminder is 4-4 in the postseason with a 2.13 goals-against average.

Lundqvist is 5-3 so far in the playoffs with a 1.62 goals-against average, and he's been nominated for both the Vezina Trophy and the Hart Trophy after going 39-18-5 in the regular season with a 1.97 GAA.

Puck drop for Monday night is set for 7:30pm ET; Game 3 is Wednesday in Washington.