If the conclusion of the first round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs is any indication, the second round should provide plenty of excitement and nail-biting moments for hockey fans.
The opening round ended this past weekend with a pair of epic Game 7s in which the home teams rallied from two-goal deficits in the third period to advance. The Dallas Stars scored four unanswered goals to defeat the Colorado Avalanche 4-2 on Saturday, and the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Winnipeg Jets tallied twice in the final 1:56 of regulation to erase the St. Louis Blues’ 3-1 lead before captain Adam Lowry converted at 16:10 of the second overtime.
Those results set up a second-round matchup between the Stars and Jets, which begins Wednesday at Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg. The Jets won three of the four regular season meetings between the Central Division rivals, outscoring the Stars 13-5 in the process.
The other Western Conference series has the Pacific Division-winning Vegas Golden Knights facing off against the reigning conference champion Edmonton Oilers, with Game 1 slated for Tuesday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The Golden Knights and Oilers, who respectively knocked off the Minnesota Wild and Los Angeles Kings in six games in the first round, split their four contests in 2024-25. Vegas needed six games to eliminate Edmonton in the second round in their only previous postseason matchup in 2023.
In the Eastern Conference, the Toronto Maple Leafs and the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers get the second round started Monday at Scotiabank Arena. Florida outscored Toronto 13-7 while winning three of four in the regular season and eliminated the Maple Leafs in five games in the second round two years ago, when the Atlantic Division clubs met in the postseason for the first time.
The other second-round series in the East begins Tuesday as the Washington Capitals take on the Carolina Hurricanes at Capital One Arena. The home team won all four regular-season meetings between the Metropolitan Division rivals, while the Hurricanes took the only previous playoff series, defeating the Capitals in seven games in the first round in 2019.
Despite finishing first in their respective conferences, Winnipeg and Washington are underdogs in their second-round series. Both the Jets and Capitals have odds around +140 at most sportsbooks. Toronto, which finished 10 points ahead of Florida to win the Atlantic, is an even bigger underdog at around +150. Meanwhile, the series between Vegas and Edmonton is basically being considered a toss-up, although the Golden Knights are -115 favorites at several sportsbooks.
Here are some teams with value to consider when making prop bets for second-round series victories.
Best bet
Vegas Golden Knights (-105, DraftKings)
The Golden Knights didn’t play their best in the opening round, finding themselves down 2-1 in the series and winning the next two games in overtime before edging the Wild 3-2 in Game 6. No player on the team recorded more than five points in the matchup, and only four had multiple goals, with one being defenseman Shea Theodore. Pavel Dorofeyev, who led Vegas in the regular season with a career-high 35 tallies, scored just once in the first five games against Minnesota but missed Game 6 with an undisclosed injury and is expected to be a game-time decision for the opener versus Edmonton. However, Brett Howden followed the best regular season of his career (23 goals) by netting three goals – including two game-winners – in the first round.
The Oilers were one period away from being down 0-3 against the Kings but scored four times in the third to take Game 3 and went on to win the next three contests. Calvin Pickard replaced Stuart Skinner late in Game 2 and hasn’t looked back, but he posted just an .893 save percentage in the series and allowed four goals twice. Leon Draisaitl netted three tallies and Connor McDavid had two versus the Kings, but neither superstar converted in the last two games of the matchup. If they don’t get going and Vegas starts getting more production from its top forwards, I can’t see the Oilers making their second straight trip to the conference final.
Best longshot
Toronto Maple Leafs (+152, Caesars)
It’s difficult to bet against the defending champion Panthers, especially after the way they rolled past the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round. Meanwhile, the Maple Leafs stormed out to a 3-0 series lead against the Ottawa Senators but dropped the next two contests and needed late third-period heroics from Max Pacioretty in Game 6 to advance to the second round for just the second time since 2004. Florida certainly has the edge in the crease with Sergei Bobrovsky, but Toronto’s Anthony Stolarz was his backup last season and may have learned a thing or two about getting the job done in the playoffs.
The Maple Leafs need a big offensive effort from three-time Maurice Richard Trophy winner Auston Matthews, who only scored twice in the opening round and has recorded three goals over 16 games in his last three postseason series (zero in five contests against Florida in 2023). For some reason, I like Toronto’s chances with head coach Craig Berube, who worked wonders with St. Louis in 2018-19 and guided the Leafs to just their second division title since 1999-2000 in his first year behind their bench.
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