Vegas Play of the Day: San Jose Sharks at Pittsburgh Penguins

By Case Keefer (contact)

Wednesday, June 1, 2016 | 12:11 p.m.

We've reset the Play of the Day with fresh bankrolls and turned it into a yearly competition. Our three sports writers have re-started with $10,000 bankrolls to continue using on odds from the South Point.

Pittsburgh Penguins minus-120 vs. San Jose Sharks: $1,200 to win $1,000

Truth be told, I came into today expecting to take Sharks in the Play of the Day. Then I looked at the odds.

I’m outing myself as someone who hasn’t followed the Stanley Cup Playoff odds that closely, but I never expected this to be a virtual pick’em. I figured, at worst, San Jose would be the same plus-115 price it was in the first game.

That the Sharks are offered at a lesser price, and taking all the action no less, doesn’t add up to me. The Penguins have clearly been the best team in the NHL since the all-star break, and they continued to look like it in a dominating game 1 performance.

All the murmurs about Sidney Crosby falling off are about to be silenced with a second Stanley Cup victory — and he might not even be the Penguins’ best player right now. Phil Kessel leads Pittsburgh in playoff points, and Evegeni Malkin and Kris Letang are just as valuable.

Home ice hasn’t meant much these playoffs, and teams that lost game 1 have proven strong bets — all three Penguins’ series have been tied at 1-1. But that’s circumstantial. At these odds, Pittsburgh is the only direction to look.

Current Standings (as of July 1): Brewer (50-41-2, $11,775), Bern (34-40, $7,060), Keefer (49-59-2, $5,190)

Lifetime standings: 2014-15 Champion Bern (114-114-1), Keefer (132-142-4), Brewer (118-128-4)

Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.