NHL Playoffs 2019: Analyzing Stanley Cup Odds for Every Remaining Team

The field of teams still left in the hunt for the Stanley Cup just got smaller.

After two potential elimination games on Monday night, there are now six teams vying for the title of league champion.

The Boston Bruins closed out their series against the Columbus Blue Jackets with a 3-0 win at Nationwide Arena. They now move on to the Eastern Conference Finals, where they will face the Carolina Hurricanes.

However, the San Jose Sharks were not able to take care of business on the road, losing to the Colorado Avalanche, setting up a decisive Game 7 matchup on Wednesday night.

The winner of that game will advance to the Western Conference Finals to take on the winner of Tuesday night's Game 7 between the Dallas Stars and the St. Louis Blues.

Despite the loss, the Sharks are still favored to win it all, as are the Bruins, but the other four teams have made solid cases as to why they should be considered legitimate threats to win the Cup.

Here are the latest odds to consider for all NHL bettors:

Odds For Each Remaining Team

Boston Bruins (+250; bet $100 to win $250)

The buzz going into the series between the Boston Bruins and the Columbus Blue Jackets was in favor of the latter, after they swept the Tampa Bay Lightning who won an NHL-best 62 games this year.

But the Bruins dug in and did what needed to be done to advance.

And it was all due to their defense, led by goalie Tuukka Rask, who is making a strong case for Boston's best player in the playoffs.

The Finn racked up 39 saves in the 3-0 closeout win over the Blue Jackets—his sixth career playoff shutout.

Kirk Irwin/Getty Images

The Bruins will need Rask to keep guarding the net with impunity if they want to live up to the latest expectations as the joint-favorites to win the championship.

Boston isn't the shiny new playoff pick this year, but it is on a roll and deserves to be considered the safest bet to hoist the trophy.

San Jose Sharks (+250)

It looks like the San Jose Sharks want to do things the hard way.

After losing Monday night to the Colorado Avalanche, they'll have to take Game 7 on home ice if they want to advance.

The Sharks will need to lean on their defense and the play of forward Tomas Hertl and center Logan Couture on offense.

Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images

San Jose has the depth advantage over Colorado, so it should be able to punch its ticket to the next round of the playoffs.

The Sharks had the second-best record in the West and have the team and experience needed to keep skating toward their first Stanley Cup Finals since 2016.

San Jose is right there with Boston as the odds-on favorite, so it's a strong wager for bettors.

St. Louis Blues (+350)

The only thing standing in St. Louis' way is Dallas.

The two teams face off in a winner-takes-all Game 7 Tuesday night, and the Blues have the best shot at staving off elimination, according to the latest odds.

This will be the 17th time St. Louis will play in a seventh game in a best-of-seven series.

They won eight of their last 16, and defenseman Alex Pietrangelo will likely be their key to victory.

Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

The team captain scored the first goal against the Stars in 63 seconds in the 4-1 win on Sunday night.

David Perron hit the game-winning shot, and Sammy Blais—who hadn't played since March 12—scored his first career playoff goal.

The Blues will need all three to step up if they want to close out Dallas and extend their postseason.

Carolina Hurricanes (+350)

The fact that the Carolina Hurricanes co-opted hockey commentator Don Cherry's "bunch of jerks" insult and made it a rallying cry, says everything bettors need to know when considering whether to place wagers on them.

The Hurricanes left their post-game celebrations in the regular season, but the label endures.

Cherry has even taken to insulting the team's fans, too.

"These people that are here now, now they're winning, [are] front-running fans as far as I'm concerned," he said in a "Coach's Corner" segment, via The New York Post's Greg Joyce. "That's what they are, front-running fans, as far as I'm concerned."

Front-running or not, Carolina's fans have plenty to cheer about.

Their team beat the defending champs, the Washington Capitals, in seven games in the first round and followed that up with a dominating turn against the New York Islanders, sweeping them for the right to take on the Bruins in the conference finals.

Although Boston beat the Hurricanes two times out of three this season, Sebastian Aho (30 goals and 53 assists this season) has the chops to lead his squad to the Cup.

Dallas Stars (+1000)

The Dallas Stars are looking to make the most of their first trip to the postseason since 2016.

They are the long-shot choice to beat the Blues in the series clincher on Tuesday, but they still have a puncher's chance to pull it off.

Controversy ensued in Game 6, when goalie Ben Bishop was struck by a puck on a slap shot from the Blues' Colton Parayko that knocked him down to the ice in the third period and the refs didn't stop play.

Tony Gutierrez/Associated Press

After St. Louis pushed their lead to 4-1, Bishop left the game and later underwent X-rays for his collarbone.

They came back negative, but the big question remains: Will he be effective in Game 7?

If Bishop can regain his regular-season form (1,236 saves for a league-leading 93.4 save percentage), he'll be the difference-maker.

The odds aren't favorable for the Stars, but bettors shouldn't count them out.

Colorado Avalanche (+1800)

Thanks to Monday night's OT win, Colorado still has a chance to advance.

With the worst odds of the six remaining teams, though, making it out of the second round will be a tall order.

History isn't on their side, either. In 10 Game 7 matchups, the Avalanche have only won four.

They'll also have to win on the road, and their away-game record (17-16-8) isn't stellar.

But their showing in Game 6 showed promise.

Head coach Jared Bednar put seven defensemen and 11 forwards on the ice, so it will be interesting to see if he goes with a similar lineup for the deciding game.

Colorado is a long shot, but that shouldn't scare away the bold bettors.

Follow Maurice Bobb on Twitter, @ReeseReport.

Statistics obtained from Hockey Reference.

Odds via @CaesarsPalace.