The NHL Stanley Cup play offs begin on Wednesday April 11th and all of the first round games are played in April from the 11th to the 25th. (In 2018)
Match Schedule
In each round of the play-offs the teams play a “first to four wins” (best of seven games) and is called a “Series”.
In the fixture list below the second team listed is “Home”, for example Pittsburgh Penguins play their first game at “Home”.
The “home” team of the first game will play 4 “home” games (in their own arena) and the away team of the first game will play 3 “home” games. Pittsburgh Penguins are scheduled to play four games at home and three games away.
The first two games are played at the “home” team listed first, the second two games are played “away”. If the result has not been decided by the 4th game then the 5th game is played at home, the 6th away and the 7th game at home.
Please note that after the fourth game the dates are “To be decided” because if a team wins the first four games then the last three games will not be played.
Here are the fixtures and the dates of the first round series games:
2018 Match Schedule
Philadelphia Flyers vs Pittsburgh Penguins
11th / 13th / 15th / 18th / 20th / 22nd / 24th
LA Kings vs Vegas Knights
11th / 13th / 15th / 17th / 19th / 21st / 23rd
Minnesota Wild vs Winnipeg Jets
11th / 13th / 15th / 17th / 20th / 22nd / 25th
Toronto Maple Leafs vs Boston Bruins
12th / 14th / 16th / 19th / 21st / 23rd / 25th
New Jersey Devils vs Tampa Bay Lightning
12th / 14th / 16th / 18th / 21st / 23rd / 25th
San Jose sharks vs Anaheim Ducks
12th / 14th / 16th / 18th / 20th / 22nd / 24th
Columbus Blue Jackets vs Washington Capitals
12th / 15th / 17th / 19th / 21st / 23rd / 25th
Colorado Avalanche vs Nashville Predators
12th / 14th / 16th / 18th / 20th / 22nd / 24th
Betting Markets
There are a good number of betting markets available to bet on from Outright Cup winner to Championship winner to “series” winner to individual game winner. Handicap and correct score betting is also available.
Series Betting Markets
Here are the markets available for a “series” fixture:
Series Winner - Team A or B to win the series.
Most Series Goals - Team A or B to score the most goals
Series Handicaps - + / - 3.5, + / - 2.5, + / - 1.5, Team A or B to win
Series Goals - Over / Under 17.5, Over Under 15.5 Goals by Team.
Exact total games - Four, Five, Six or Seven Games played in the series
Total Games - Over / Under 6.5, Over / Under 5.5, Over / Under 4.5 games played in the series
Team A / Team B Total Wins - Team to win Over 1.5, 2.5, 3.5 / Under 1.5, 2.5,
Correct Score - Team to win 4-0, 4-1, 4-2, 4-3
Games to go to overtime - Number of games to go to overtime 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 or more
Total number of Shutouts - Number of games where a team does not score 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 or more
Win Game 1 and win the series - Team to win the first game and win the series
Lose Game 1 and win the series - Team to lose the first game and win the series
Individual Game Betting Markets
Here are the markets available for an individual game in a series:
Main Markets
Money Line - Team A to Win / Lose
60 Minutes Betting - Team A to Win, Lose or Draw
Puck Line - Handicap Bet on Team A to Win, Lose or Draw
Total Goals - Over / Under 4.5, 5.5. 6.5 goals scored in the game
Team to Score First - Team A to score the first goal
Race to Four / Five goals - Which team (A or B) will score 4 (or 5) goals first?
Match Winner and Total Goals Double - Team to win and score under or over 5.5 goals
1st Period Betting - Team to win, lose or Draw the 1st Period (See also Period betting markets)
Double Chance - Team A to win or Draw, Team B to win or Draw, Team A or Team B to win
Draw No bet - Team to win - a draw result gives you a refund of your bet
Correct Score - Team to win 1-0, 2-0, 2-1, etc.
Will their be overtime - Yes / No
60 Minutes Winning Margin - Team to win by 4, 5, 6 goals, etc.
Goals Markets
Total Goals - Total goals Under / Over 4.5., 5.5, 6.5 to be scored in the game
Team to Score First - Team to score the first goal
Race to Four / Five goals - Team to score 4 goals first, Team to score 5 goals first
Team A to score total goals - Team A to score 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, etc. goals
Last Team to score - Team to score the last goal
Both Teams to score 1-5 - Team A and Team B to score 1 goal - Yes / No, 2 goals Yes / No etc.
Time of first goal - Team A to score their first goal 1-5 minutes, 6-10 minutes, 11-15 minutes, etc.
Total Goals Odd / Even - The total goals are Even numbered - 2,4,6, etc / The total goals to be Odd numbered 1,3,5, etc.
Team A goals Odd / Even - Team A’s total goals are odd and even
Period Markets
Highest Scoring Period - Period 1, 2 or 3 to have the most goals
1st Period Result - Team A to win, lose or draw in the first Period 1
1st Period Handicap Result - Team A to win, lose or draw with a +/- handicap
Total Goals Over / Under 1, 1.5, 2, - How many goals in the period?
1st Period Correct Score - Team A to win the period 1-0, 2-0, etc.
1st Period Double Chance - Team A to win /or Draw, Team B to win or Draw, Team A win /or Team B win
Both Teams to Score in Period - Both teams to score 1, 2, 3 goals, etc.
Team to win most periods - Team A to win 1, 2, 3 periods or Team A to win more periods Yes / No
1st Period Total Goals Even / Odd - The total goals are Even numbered - 2,4,6, etc / The total goals to be Odd numbered 1,3,5, etc.
Team Goals Markets
Team A Total Goals - Team to score 0,1,2,3,4 goals, etc.
Team A Total Goals Even / Odd - The total goals are Even numbered - 2,4,6, etc / The total goals to be Odd numbered 1,3,5, etc.
Outright Markets
There are two Outright markets - the winner of the Stanley Cup and the winner of each Conference.
Please note that “Winner of the Conference” is the same as a “To reach the final” bet.
Stanley Cup Outright Odds [listed first] and Conference Winner Outright Odds in (0.00)
W = Western E = Eastern
W Nashville 5.50 (2.62)
E Tampa Bay 6.50 (3.75)
E Boston 7.5 (4.00)
W Vegas 9.00 (5.00)
E Washington 11.00 (6.00)
W Winnipeg 11.00 (5.00)
E Pittsburgh 12.00 (6.00)
E Toronto 12.00 (6.50)
E Columbus 21.00 (11.00)
W San Jose 21.00 (12.00)
W Anaheim 23.00 (13.00)
W LA 26.00 (15.00)
W Minnesota 26.00 (13.00)
E Philadelphia 26.00 (15.00)
W Colarado 29.00 (17.00)
E New Jersey 34.00 (19.00)
Final Word
Shop around for different odds on different markets, online bookmakers may offer very different prices depending on the country of the website, for example Toronto Maple Leafs will likely have much lower odds in Canada than in the U.K.
We hope your betting successfully, and get a profit. Good Luck!
