NHL Playoffs 2015: Schedule and Latest Odds for Stanley Cup Bracket Picture

The greatest two months in sports have finally started. There's no formula to winning a Stanley Cup, as we've seen in recent years. Only once in the last seven years has the team that won the Presidents' Trophy won the Cup. 

The New York Rangers, who finished with a league-high 113 points, are looking to buck that trend. One thing is certain: There will be a new champion, as the Los Angeles Kings just missed out on the postseason. 

Things kicked off in dramatic fashion Wednesday, building the anticipation for another spectacular run of games that will determine which franchise is the league's best. 

With games underway, here's a look at the schedule for the Stanley Cup playoffs and how the oddsmakers see things playing out. 

Schedule

Date	Series	Start Time (ET)	Network
April 16	Pittsburgh Penguins at New York Rangers	7 p.m.	NBC Sports Network
April 16	Detroit Red Wings at Tampa Bay Lightning	7:30 p.m.	CNBC
April 16	Minnesota Wild at St. Louis Blues	9:30 p.m.	NBC Sports Network
April 16	Winnipeg Jets at Anaheim Ducks	10 p.m.	CNBC
April 17	Ottawa Senators at Montreal Canadiens	7 p.m.	CNBC
April 17	New York Islanders at Washington Capitals	7 p.m.	NBC Sports Network
April 17	Chicago Blackhawks at Nashville Predators	9:30 p.m.	NBC Sports Network
April 17	Calgary Flames at Vancouver Canucks	10:30 p.m.	CNBC
April 18	Detroit Red Wings at Tampa Bay Lightning	3 p.m.	NBC (Markets May Vary)
April 18	Minnesota Wild at St. Louis Blues	3 p.m.	NBC (Markets May Vary)
April 18	Pittsburgh Penguins at New York Rangers	8 p.m.	NBC
April 18	Winnipeg Jets at Anaheim Ducks	10:30 p.m.	NBC Sports Network

Full schedule available at NHL.com

Odds

Team	Odds
New York Rangers	6-1
Anaheim Ducks	8-1
Chicago Blackhawks	8-1
Minnesota Wild	8-1
St. Louis Blues	8-1
Montreal Canadiens	9-1
Nashville Predators	12-1
Tampa Bay Lightning	12-1
Detroit Red Wings	16-1
Ottawa Senators	16-1
Pittsburgh Penguins	16-1
Vancouver Canucks	16-1
New York Islanders	18-1
Washington Capitals	18-1
Calgary Flames	20-1
Winnipeg Jets	25-1

The Sleepers

Even though the Rangers have the best odds by virtue of being the best regular-season team, the best value on the board is the team that finished second in the division: the Washington Capitals. 

The Capitals have often fallen on their sword in the playoffs following brilliant seasons, winning five division titles in a six-year span from 2007-13, only to lose in the first or second round each time. 

Alex Ovechkin is a player fans either love or hate, with no middle ground. Dan Steinberg of The Washington Post asked the million-dollar question about the Capitals superstar:

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Younger sports fans in this town are accustomed to disagreeing with that acerbic sports-radio crew. In this matter, though, I suspect theirs is the majority opinion. Whether Ovechkin scores two goals or 20 goals this postseason, his biography will always include qualifiers until his team wins in May and June. Whether that’s fair or not is almost irrelevant. 

"

Sports fans and analysts always put all the pressure to win in the playoffs on a single player, even though there's never been one individual who has won a title in any team sport.

Michael Jordan, as great as he was, had players such as Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman and Horace Grant. Tom Brady wasn't Tom Brady during the New England Patriots' first Super Bowl win in 2001, nor would he have gotten a fourth title this year if Malcolm Butler hadn't made a goal-line interception. 

Steinberg also noted that Ovechkin's playoff numbers are really good:

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He ranks fifth among active players with 1.05 postseason points per game (with a 10-game minimum). He’s second among active players with .53 postseason goals per game. He scored at least two goals in each of his first eight playoff series, before managing just one in the 2013 loss to the Rangers. He is, in other words, the same thing in the playoffs that he is in the regular season: among the most dangerous goal scorers in the world.

"

To put things another way, if the Capitals lose, the odds are good that it won't be because Ovechkin didn't show up to play.

The Capitals had the third-best goal differential (plus-39) in the Eastern Conference and allowed fewer goals (203) than Tampa Bay (211), but the Lightning have better title odds, presumably because fans don't trust Washington in the playoffs.

Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press

Things in the Western Conference are a little more dicey because the "sleepers" are getting great odds. Chicago is the obvious candidate, finishing with the second-best goal differential (plus-40) in the conference despite finishing fourth in points (102). 

Unfortunately, calling the Blackhawks sleepers doesn't apply, as oddsmakers have them tied with Anaheim, Minnesota and St. Louis at 8-1. The return of Patrick Kane, who made the announcement on Twitter, drastically changes Chicago's roster: 

With the Blackhawks out of the sleeper category, why not look at the team they are playing? Nashville has decent odds (12-1), but it seems like a foregone conclusion that Chicago will advance. 

Stats show the Predators were a slightly better offensive team than Chicago, with 232 goals scored, though they did give up 19 more goals. Neither team is entering the playoffs on a good note. Nashville lost its last six games, while Chicago has dropped four straight. 

The biggest weapon for Nashville in this series, as noted by Scott Powers of ESPN.com, has to be Pekka Rinne in the net:

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When he's on his game, Rinne can knock off the Blackhawks or any other team. Nashville appeared to be headed toward the Presidents' Trophy earlier in the season because of Rinne, who held opponents to two goals or fewer 41 times this season. He led the league in quality start percentage, was third in goals-against average and tied for seventh in save percentage. He can be the difference in a game.

"

It's no surprise that as Rinne goes, Nashville does. In four of the six games during the Predators' losing streak, the 32-year-old went 0-4 with 14 goals allowed on 98 attempts. 

You don't have to go back far to see what great goaltending can do in the playoffs. The Los Angeles Kings rode Jonathan Quick to a Stanley Cup last season. 

Rinne hasn't looked like himself down the stretch, but there is greatness within him. Getting that back will make Nashville an underrated sleeper in the playoffs.