The Stanley Cup Finals begin Wednesday night in Game 1 between the visiting Los Angeles Kings and the New Jersey Devils. The NHL Playoff odds for the game have the Kings favored at -115 (Risk $115 to win $100). The game is scheduled for a 8:00 pm start time and it will be televised live on NBC. The odds show that bookmakers have a prediction of a close road win for the Kings.

Picks: Los Angeles has won all eight of their road playoff games this season and are favored to open the Stanley Cup Finals with a road win tonight. The New Jersey Devils are a home underdog, and they have played well on both the road and at home this post season. This is shaping up to be a really good Stanley Cup Finals. Both teams get excellent goal tending. Will the Kings have a bit of a rusty start because of their long layoff after beating up on the Phoenix Coyotes? Oddsmakers don't seem to think so based on the opening line for this first game, though. A -115 road favorite correlates to nearly a 54% chance for that team to win, which could be bad news for the Devils. However, getting a team at home at this point in the season as an underdog is definitely a plus. The two teams are in some of the biggest markets in the county and on either side of the country, so there will be some late nights and some crazy travel times as well. The NHL has to be fired up for the overall matchup, too. It's a couple of hardcore teams that play an uptempo style and have quality players all over the ice. The goaltenders are excellent as well and could prove to be the biggest difference in the series.

Prediction: We like the Devils at home as underdogs in this contest tonight. Both team have had great runs to this point and the Stanley Cup Finals should be a lot of fun to watch. New Jersey has played exceptionally well at home during the playoffs, winning six of their eight games. Los Angeles has actually played much better on the road, which is why they are favored in this game, winning all eight of their games on the road. However, we'll take the Devils in this game tonight to win by a low-scoring margin of 2-1.

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