As the baseball great Yogi Berra once famously said, “It ain’t over ’til it’s over.” Though both the New York Rangers and the Los Angeles Kings seemed a lock to clinch their respective conferences just a couple of days ago, the improbable and unlikely actually happened. As some of you may know by now my motto as a sportswriter is that you can wind up eating crow at any time — I’ve just had two servings. The Blackhawks went two minutes into DOUBLE overtime before Michal Handzus found the net and gave them a 5-4 win. After dropping three straight coming into game five, the Blackhawks now have new life and have forced a game six this Friday at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. A day earlier the Montreal Canadiens bounced back from the brink of elimination with a torrid assault on New York goalies Henrik Lundqvist and Cam Talbot, taking a 7-4 win in the process and gaining momentum heading into game six tonight. Everything changes now including the odds. Previously the Rangers were a -1100 favorite to take the series and the Habs were +700, but now that they’ve inched closer to the improbable comeback the lines have shrunk considerably on both sides. The Rangers are still -430 to take the Eastern conference title at Several Bookmakers, but if the Habs find the net as frequently in Madison Square Garden as they did on Tuesday, that line may even flip-flop with the currently +345 Canadiens. Once a best of seven is tied at 3 games apiece, anything is possible. That being said the Rangers are still the favorites tonight on the money line at -175 against +155. If you think Rene Bourque has another hat trick up his sleeve, bet the dog. If you think it’s unlikely Lundqvist will have two epic fails in a row, bet the money line AND the series for the Rangers, who still have the opportunity to close things out at home. The lines for the Kings and the Blackhawks are interesting as well. Los Angeles is still a -310 favorite to take the whole thing in seven games, but the Blackhawks have narrowed considerably to a +255. The odds are even slimmer if you’re betting the money line on Friday’s game as it’s -130 to the Kings and +110 to the Blackhawks, which all but makes it a coin flip even though the Kings — like the Rangers — are on home ice. You’d have to feel a little bit nervous about betting on the series as a whole when the Kings are far from a lock to take game six — they’re the favorite but not by much. The crowd at the Staples Center will definitely be in their corner though, and the chances it goes to double OT again are not good. Speaking of the chances of overtime though, you can always flip money onto that action for tonight’s game. It’s -360 for no overtime between the Rangers and Habs and +300 if you think they can tie and need to skate for at least one extra period. Please remember to wager only what you can afford and that all betting previews are for entertainment purposes only. The NHL Playoffs continue and we’ll update you again if these conference rounds go to a seventh and final game!
