NHL Playoff Betting Odds: Penguins Favoured To Win Stanley Cup

Sidney Crosby and the Penguins are favoured to win another Stanley Cup.

The Pittsburgh Penguins will enter the 2012 NHL playoffs as the betting favourite to win the Stanley Cup.

Pittsburgh is a +445 (roughly 4.5 to 1) favourite at Pinnacle Sports to win it all, despite finishing fourth overall in the NHL regular season and having a tough first-round series with the cross-state rival Philadelphia Flyers.

The defending Western Conference champion Vancouver Canucks — one of two Canadian teams in this year’s tournament — aren’t far behind the Pens in the eyes of oddsmakers. Vancouver, the top seed in the East, pays +480 to win the Cup.

Rounding out the top five are the New York Rangers (+805), Boston Bruins (+908) and St. Louis Blues (+918).

Potential darkhorses include the Flyers (+1285), Detroit Red Wings (+1285), Nashville Predators (+1603), Chicago Blackhawks (+1708) and San Jose Sharks (+1922).

Canada’s other hopes, the Ottawa Senators, are listed as a +3198 longshot. Only the Florida Panthers (+4265) are considered less likely by oddsmakers to win the Cup this spring.

Pinnacle Sports has yet to release betting odds for the first-round playoff series.