The NHL playoffs have been unpredictable and no team exemplifies that more than the Florida Panthers. Led by Matthew Tkachuk, Florida surged through the Eastern Conference in improbable fashion and now finds itself in the Stanley Cup Finals following series victories over the Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs and Carolina Hurricanes. Standing in the Panthers’ way of the most famous trophy in American sports are the Western Conference champion Vegas Golden Knights.
The finals festivities get underway on Saturday night in Las Vegas, so let’s take a look at the odds, betting lines and our expert’s best bets for Panthers vs Golden Knights Game 1.
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Florida Panthers vs Vegas Golden Knights odds & betting lines
Money line odds: Panthers +110, Golden Knights -130
Total goals over/under: 5.5 goals
Puck line odds: Panthers +1.5 (-230), Golden Knights -1.5 (+195)
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Florida Panthers vs Vegas Golden Knights expert picks
Panthers vs Golden Knights puck line pick: Panthers -1.5 (+230)
Not many people had Florida making it out of the first round, let alone getting to the finals, but here it is. Vegas was an excellent team this season, so seeing this club in this spot is less of a shock. Each side has a ton of depth up front, a good defense and a goalie who can steal a game — so who has the edge?
The Panthers have proven that they can go on the road and win hockey games. They aren’t a high-scoring team, but they manage to score a few goals and Sergei Bobrovsky does the rest. Vegas has some players who can score goals, but on paper, they are just slightly better than the Carolina Hurricanes, and we saw how that went. Adin Hill has been good since taking over the starting job, but we saw in the Dallas series that he can let in some soft goals. The Panthers are a physical team that loves to hand out in front of the net and they are going to make life very difficult for Hill. This game is likely to be close, but if the Panthers are leading with fewer than 5 minutes in the third period, there’s a good chance they score an empty-net goal. We’re going to take a home-run swing here and back the Panthers to win by more than 1 goal on the puck line.
Panthers vs Golden Knights over/under total goals pick: Over 5.5 (-115)
The total for Game 1 opened at 5.5 and should stay at that number as we approach puck drop. It’s not surprising to see the number this low when you take into consideration just how good Sergei Bobrovsky has been since taking back his starting job. Vegas was able to score goals against the Stars, but Jake Oettinger wasn’t very good in the playoffs and the Dallas defense just wasn’t able to slow anyone down. Are we really going to see a ton of scoring chances from both sides?
Florida isn’t a high-scoring offense but it does like to go to the front of the net and score those garbage goals. Both teams are also very physical, so that could leave some space open if a player is caught out of position. The power play will also be key for the Panthers in this first game. Vegas’ penalty kill hasn’t been great in the playoffs, but that has more to do with the fact that they had to deal with the Edmonton Oilers in the 2nd round. The Panthers have no reason to feel any fatigue coming into this game, so the fresher legs could help them generate more scoring chances. We see these teams being able to trade some chances, at least in this first game, so we’ll back the over and hope some of those scoring chances find the back of the net.
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