With the Belmont odds posted and the French Open finals upon us, there will be a lot of sporting events for the weekend. Here’s a preview of the two major sports that are currently in the Finals stages: Stanley Cup Betting: Penguins Have Another Shot To Steal Home-Ice.
Earlier in the postseason, the NHL playoffs were pushed off the TV schedule in favor of the Kentucky Derby. While it will have to share the attention with the Belmont Stakes betting crowd this Saturday, Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals will be played later on in the evening.
The story is still the same for the Penguins as they need to steal at least one game on the road in Detroit. The Red Wings have the early momentum in the series as they jumped out to an early 2-0 series lead but now the series is tied and the Red Wings are the ones feeling the pressure.
The good news for Pittsburgh is that in their two losses, the Red Wings scored a lot of fluky goals. Now they head back to Detroit as confident as they’ve been.
The Red Wings power play has also disappeared. They are just 1-for-10 in the series and if it doesn’t wake up soon, the Red Wings may find themselves in a 3-2 series hole.
Lakers Magic Betting: Lakers See Through Nervous Magic Tricks
The Los Angeles Lakers had a very easy time dismantling the Orlando Magic in Game 1 and the story might not change a whole lot for Game 2.
While it’s true that the Magic shot an uncharacteristically low percentage from the field (29%), there was good reason for it. The Magic did not move the ball around on offense, they were playing one-on-one and they lost all of their confidence they built up from the previous round.
Most of that can be attributed to nerves but another concern has to be how they performed on the defensive end themselves.
The Lakers played with more intensity and found plenty of holes in the Magic’s weak defense.
Kobe Bryant finished with 40 points but the scary stat from his line would be the eight assists. If Bryant is going to put up LeBron James numbers, this will not be a very long series.
Look for a closer contest in Game 2 but the result should be the same.
