Golden Knights fans, bettors look for better results Saturday
For Golden Knights fans, the hours are slowly moving toward Game 3. Not even plus money can erase the apprehension about what lies ahead.
The image of Alex Tuch about to burst into celebrating a game-tying goal lingers just as much as Braden Holtby’s outstretched stick stopping the Knights from having a chance to take a 2-0 lead in the Stanley Cup Final.
While you anxiously await Saturday’s game from Washington, you should exercise restraint before you back the Golden Knights. If you shop around town, you won’t have a hard time finding plus 105. But several shops are offering plus 110.
Taking a closer look at the first two games, Knights goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury has been inconsistent, unlike the Western Conference Final against the Winnipeg Jets when he was brilliant.
But the focus for now has to be on injured Capitals center Evgeny Kuznetsov, who was a full participant in Friday’s practice. After looking several times at Brayden McNabb’s check on Kuznetsov in Game 2 on Wednesday, two things are abundantly clear:
First, McNabb lived up to his infamous reputation for coming in high on big checks. And second, never mind all this “upper body” nonsense. Kuznetsov injured his left wrist, clutching at it before he left the ice for the rest of the game.
Kuznetsov leads the NHL in playoff scoring with 25 points, and before he left Game 2, he had a goal or an assist in 11 consecutive games. He does his damage playing left-handed, making his injury all the more vital.
But Washington is not without quality replacements for the Russian who centers the Alex Ovechkin line with the villain Tom Wilson on the other wing. Center Lars Eller with his goal and two assists and Nicklas Backstrom with an assist played well after Kuznetsov was injured.
Kuznetsov is important, but with Eller and Backstrom, the Capitals are deeper at the center position than any other team in the league.
Still, the overall quality of this series has not been “A” hockey, but from a fan standpoint, this has been a wildly entertaining series.
Entertaining before the games, too. Washington’s answer to Michael Buffer will be Pat Sajak, a longtime Capitals fan who will announce the starting lineup Saturday to a “Wheel of Fortune” soundtrack — one that will ring in the ears of fans in Las Vegas. Just remember when you play your next “Wheel of Fortune” slot machine, you will have one of the biggest D.C. hockey fans in the country staring right at you.
Now to the agony and ecstasy of the NBA.
I was holding two $50 tickets on Game 1. After the first quarter, I was celebrating the Cavaliers’ plus 4½ winning ticket. But I was a little uneasy about my under 215½ for the game. Then, late in the game, I had a chance to cash again. And then the rulebook intervened in the final minute.
With 36.4 seconds left and the Cavs ahead 104-102, it looked as if LeBron James had taken a charge from Kevin Durant. But then came the video review to see if James was positioned outside the restricted arc, which led to the change of a Durant charge into a James block. If you look at the replay, the call could have gone either way.
That gave one of the NBA’s best free-throw shooters a chance to tie the score and bring the total to 208.
Then, after James answered with a layup, Stephen Curry hit a layup, was fouled and made the free throw to bring the total to 213 with 23.5 seconds left.
Now I’m on pins and needles, but I have one chance. Either the Cavaliers miss and time runs out, or George Hill goes to the free-throw line and makes both free throws. After he made the first and then missed the second, I’m done.
Regardless of J.R. Smith’s blunder, more points were coming either at the buzzer or, as it turned out, in over time — where unders go to die.
This was a bad beat that I’m going to remember for a long time. Each of those tickets would have paid $95.45, so with the one I lost, it cost me $4.55 to enjoy the night.
I hope my next “Wheel of Fortune” spin lands on “Go, Knights, Go!”
Brent Musburger’s betting column appears Saturday in the Las Vegas Review-Journal. His show on the Vegas Stats & Information Network can be heard on SiriusXM 204 and livestreamed at reviewjournal.com/vegas-stats-information-network.
