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The Florida Panthers and Boston Bruins meet in Game 3 of a best-of-7 Eastern Conference, 2nd-round series Friday. The series is tied 1-1. Puck drop from TD Garden is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET (TNT). Below, we analyze FanDuel Sportsbook’s lines around the Panthers vs. Bruins odds, and make our expert NHL picks and predictions.
Florida evened up the series by a score of 6-1 in Game 2 Wednesday, cashing as a (-156) home favorite. The Over came through for the 7th time in 10 matchups between these teams.
Panthers LW Matthew Tkachuk and Bruins RW David Pastrnak drew the postgame headlines for their fight in the 3rd period, while C Aleksander Barkov earned 3 Stars with 2 goals and 2 assists.
Boston took a 1-0 lead into the 1st intermission as C Charlie Coyle scored his 1st goal of the postseason. Florida would go on to score 6 unanswered in periods 2 and 3.
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Panthers at Bruins odds
Provided by FanDuel Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 1 p.m. ET.
- Moneyline (ML): Panthers -125 (bet $125 to win $100) | Bruins +104 (bet $100 to win $104)
- Puck line (PL)/Against the spread (ATS): Panthers -1.5 (+205) | Bruins +1.5 (-255)
- Over/Under (O/U): 5.5 (O: -106 | U: -114)
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Panthers at Bruins projected goalies
Sergei Bobrovsky (5-2, 2.71 GAA, .893 SV%) vs. Jeremy Swayman (5-3, 1.82 GAA, .942 SV%) vs.
Bobrovsky stopped 14 of 15 shots he faced in Game 2. The 2-time Vezina Trophy winner was nominated for a 3rd after sporting a 2.37 GAA with 6 shutouts during the regular season.
Swayman surrendered 4 goals in Game 2, the most during the postseason. Swayman’s SV% is still the highest and his GAA the lowest amongst all remaining goaltenders in the playoffs.
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Panthers at Bruins picks and predictions
Prediction
Florida 4, Boston 3
Moneyline
BET FLORIDA (-125).
I would much rather back a Florida team that went on the road and won in overtime twice at TD Garden last postseason, as well as once in Toronto and twice more in Carolina.
If Friday night’s game is decided in regulation, the Panthers have had the better track record thus far, as their goal differential per 60 is best among Eastern Conference playoff teams (0.73).
Additionally, Florida has averaged the 3rd-most time per playoff game leading its opponent (25:13), so I expect it to maintain at least a 1-goal advantage and hold on for the Game 3 win.
Puck line/Against the spread
Consider adding Bruins +1.5 (-255) to a parlay.
This is too much juice for a single bet to back Boston +1.5 (-255). However, if you are looking to spread out action across multiple days, consider pairing the Bruins’ PL with the New York Rangers +1.5 (-200 at Carolina Hurricanes, Saturday at 7 p.m. ET), which would pay out +108 in a 2-leg parlay.
Over/Under
BET OVER 5.5 (-106).
RW Kyle Okposo and Tkachuk each have scored 4 goals with 6 assists this postseason.
C Carter Verhaeghe, who leads Florida with 5 goals, told reporters after Game 2 that the Panthers were “kind of out of it” due to having extended time off between playoff series. After a 6-goal performance in Game 2 that saw C Saw Reinhart record 4 assists, it seems like the Panthes are certainly back in it offensively.
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