The eyes of the sports betting world were on Chicago, Illinois, USA on Monday as Game 1 action for the 2010 Stanley Cup betting action gets underway. The Western Conference champion Chicago Blackhawks hosted their Eastern Conference counterparts the Philadelphia Flyers in what was an extremely memorable Stanley Cup odds contest.
On paper the Flyers didn’t stand a chance in this hockey betting matchup. A quick tale of the tape gives the Hawks a huge advantage. Chicago is the #2 seed (55-22-8) in the West with the third most points during the NHL betting regular season. The Flyers are the #7 seed (88 points) in the East and had to win a shoot out on the final day of the hockey betting season just to qualify for the NHL playoff betting.
But the regular season stats have little to do with anything once the Stanley Cup betting action gets underway and the Game 1 6-5 nail-biting victory by Chicago proved that.
Philly had no business keeping this Stanley Cup betting opener close, but they if wasn’t for a bit of bad luck the #7 Flyers could easily be up 1-0 right now in the Stanley Cup odds competition.
This hockey odds matchup was one of the most exciting we’ve seen in the Stanley Cup betting action in quite some time. Both teams came out of the blocks on fire with goals aplenty. Philly drew first blood and when the dust finally settled on the first period action, the Flyers held a 3-2 lead over the host Blackhawks.
The teams combined for 5 more goals in the second period in a goal scoring bonanza. But once the third period began the game took on a much different tone and just one goal was scored in the final minutes. But it was enough to give the Hawks a 6-5 in a wild Game 1 of this year’s Stanley Cup betting action.
Sports betting fans knew the goalies would be important in this hockey betting series and for the most part they were both awful. Michael Leighton of the Flyers stopped just 15 of 20 shots and was pulled. The Hawks Antti Neimi, was just slightly better giving up five goals on 32 shots.
If the collective goaltending of these teams doesn’t improve, this could be the wildest Stanley Cup betting series ever.