Vegas Play of the Day: Stanley Cup finals game 2

By Case Keefer (contact)

Wednesday, May 31, 2017 | 12:30 p.m.

We’ve entered the third season of the annual South Point-lined Play of the Day competition, effective July 1.

Starting bankrolls have reset to $10,000, with the maximum bet being to win $1,000 and the minimum wager $300. Ray Brewer won the 2015-2016 season, after Taylor Bern prevailed in 2014-2015. Bern stepped away in the middle of the 2016-2017 season with a 16-12 record and $13,317 bankroll, with Mike Grimala taking his place.

Nashville Predators plus-125 at Pittsburgh Penguins: $400 to win $500

There are a lot of red flags for why this is a bad bet. The Predators are available at a lesser price than they were for game 1 after losing 5-3, and the majority of the action is coming in on them anyway.

I’m choosing to ignore all the signs, because the more important factor to me is the inexplicable nature of game 1. The Penguins scored five goals on 12 shots, though the final one was on an empty net.

Nashville’s Pekka Rinne has been the best goalie in hockey all postseason, and he’s not going to let something like that happen again. The Predators were positive after the loss, another good sign that they won’t come out tight, feeling the pressure to escape Pittsburgh with one victory.

These two teams have played so well in the playoffs that the series always felt like it was going to stretch on for a while. There’s no better way to ensure that than splitting the first two contests.

The price is just good enough to take a chance with the Predators.

Current Standings: Grimala (11-13, $9,703), Brewer (33-32-1, $8,425), Keefer (44-39-3, $8,295), Granger (16-22-1, $7,272)

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