- The Avalanche and Hurricanes are two of the 19 teams in NHL history to go 8-1 or better through their first two playoff series in a single postseason.
- 16 of the other 17 teams to do so reached the Stanley Cup Finals.
- Carolina has gone 8-0, which has happened just three other times in the history of the sport.
DENVER – With the dust now settled and matchups lined up, the conference finals of the Stanley Cup Playoffs are set to begin on Wednesday with the Colorado Avalanche hosting the Vegas Golden Knights in the Western Conference Finals, followed by the Carolina Hurricanes and Montreal Canadiens on Thursday.
Western Conference Finals Odds: Avalanche vs Golden Knights
- Avalanche -260
- Golden Knights +210
The Avalanche are -260 favorites to defeat the Golden Knights in the conference finals at legal sports betting sites and that may even be underselling them at their current pace. Colorado became just the 19th team in NHL history to go 8-1 or better through their first two series.
Of the other 17 teams to do so (not including this year’s Hurricanes), just one failed to reach the Stanley Cup Finals, that being the Anaheim Ducks in 2015.
Interestingly, that was also the last team to post an 8-1 record heading into the conference finals, so there could be some doubt in the back of the mind of the Avalanche, but history is certainly on their side.
Eastern Conference Finals Odds: Hurricanes vs Canadiens
- Hurricanes -275
- Canadiens +225
The Hurricanes are off to a historic start to the postseason as well, going 8-0 through their first two series, making them just the fourth team to ever sweep their first two series 4-0 and the fifth team to go undefeated through the first two rounds, as Edmonton went 7-0 in 1985 due to a 3-0 sweep in the first round.
Of those four other teams to go undefeated into the conference finals, three of them would go on to take home the Stanley Cup and all four reaching the finals.
However, Montreal was able to sweep the regular season series 3-0 over the Hurricanes, though injuries certainly played a major role in a few of those games.
It is difficult to bet against the Hurricanes at legal hockey sites given the other teams to achieve an undefeated start through the first two rounds going 4-4 in terms of Stanley Cup appearances, but it could be argued that Montreal has the best chance to pull off the upset of any other team in the East.
