The top-seeded Dallas Stars face long odds ahead of Game 3 Saturday night in Las Vegas. The defending Stanley Cup champions Vegas Golden Knights hold a commanding 2-0 lead in the opening round series of the Western Conferece Playoffs.

NHL playoff teams with a 2-0 series lead “go on to win the series 86.4% of the time,” Vegas play-by-play announcer Dan D’Uva said post game following the Golden Knights Game 2 road win. The Stars had not lost back-to-back games in regulation all season until this year’s playoffs.

Game 3 and 4 Odds

NHL game odds from FanDuel Sportsbook refresh periodically and are subject to change, including on props and live betting. Favorites in ( ).

Sat., April 27

• Dallas at Vegas (-110), Total Goals 5.5

Many prop bets during the NHL Playoffs along with game-by-game picks and player props. Fans can also bet on if a team will win the game in regulation, which offers better odds – (Vegas +128), Dallas (+130).

Other NHL matchups and game odds Saturday:

• Carolina (-196) at NY Islanders – Hurricanes lead series 3-0
• Florida (-120) at Tampa Bay – Panthers lead series 3-0
• Boston at Toronto (-126) – Bruins lead series 2-1

Sunday, April 28

• Winnipeg at Colorado (-166) – Avalanche lead series 2-1
• Vancouver at Nashville (-122) – Canucks lead series 2-1
• NY Rangers (-192) at Washington – Rangers lead series 3-0
• Edmonton (-152) at LA Kings – Oilers lead series 2-1

Monday, April 29

Boston, Colorado, Vancouver and Edmonton all took a 2-1 series lead after those series were tied 1-1. The Game 3 winner goes on to win the playoff series 65.9% of the time (234-120) in NHL history when the series was tied 1-1, according to NHL Public Relations.

NHL Playoffs Picks

You can follow my sharp Canadien colleague Brian Steinberg (Sherwood) and his extensive knowledge and understanding of the betting markets at Sportswagers.ca. He provides NHL series selections, value-added insight and game-by-game picks throughout the playoffs. That includes key insight in Game 3 between the Golden Knights and Stars, where Sherwood has been riding Vegas in all three games of the series.

“The Stars’ heads have to be spinning after dropping the first two games of this series at home,” Sherwood notes. “The Fortress is never an easy place to play, and with the Knights up 2-0, that rink is going to be rocking.”

I’ll be at Game 3 to see it live, and “the Golden Knights cannot be a coin flip (-110) in this spot. They’ve beaten the Stars six times in a row, and ended their season last spring and they’ve not let Dallas breathe in this series,” Sherwood says. “If the Golden Knights let up here and the Stars are able to steal a game, so be it, but a coin flip this is not.”

Sherwood and sharp bettors see value on the Golden Knights in Game 3.

Vegas took a 3-0 series lead over Dallas in last year’s Western Conference Finals before losing the series 4-2.

Last year, Sherwood bet and picked the huge upset by the Florida Panthers over the Boston Bruins in the opening round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs., and he’s been providing adjusted NHL series bets and recommendations during this year’s 2024 playoffs.

Additional stats and performances of notes favoring Vegas:

• The Knights are 50-3 when scoring 3 goals or more in the playoffs in their six years making the post season.
• Vegas is 9-0 when Jack Eichel has multi-point games, which he’s done in both playoff games vs Dallas.
• Eichel is the 5th NHL player to record 20 or more career points in 24 games or fewer.
• Jonathan Marchessault has scored a goal in each of his last two games. Should he record another in Game 3 it would mark his fifth goal streak of three-plus games in the playoffs. The only active player with as many three-game goal streaks in the postseason is Alex Ovechkin (6x).
• Vegas has won 9 of the last 11 games over Dallas including 6 straight.
• The Golden Knights have made the playoffs in five of their six seasons in the NHL and won the Stanley Cup in 2023. Vegas is 4-0 advancing to the next round when leading a series 2-0, and 7-1 when leading 2 games to 1.
• Dallas had 26 wins and 57 points on the road during the regular season, which was the highest points percentage among all teams. The Stars have 19 road victories during the playoffs in the past five years – tied for the third most with the Golden Knights among all teams (TB 25, COL 21).

MoneyPuck now rates Vegas’ chances of advancing to Round 2 at 77.7%, and Round 3 at 40.2%. Other Western Conference contenders chances of advancing to Round 2 holding 2-1 series leads include Colorado (73.7%), Vancouver (77.3%) and Edmonton (79.2%) with those teams chances to advance to the Western Conference Finals similar to the Golden Knights from 37% to 44%.

The opening weekend of the National Hockey League’s (NHL) 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs delivered an average audience of 2.62 million viewers across North America, up 11 per cent year-on-year (YoY).

The interest and engagement in NHL playoff hockey with spectacular saves and players strengths to skate, shoot and score continues to drive more watch and wager action and fan interest.

You can bet on it.

MORE FROM FORBES

MORE FROM FORBESNHL Stanley Cup Playoffs 2024 Opening Matchups, Series Odds, Picks And Betting StatsBy Jay GinsbachMORE FROM FORBESGolden Knights Clinch Final NHL Playoff Spot In West As Four Teams Battle In EastBy Jay GinsbachMORE FROM FORBESFierceness Leads 2024 Kentucky Derby Favorites And Racing Fractions To Support Win WagersBy Jay GinsbachMORE FROM FORBESWhy Gamblers Still Bet With A BookieBy Will Yakowicz