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The Florida Panthers and Edmonton Oilers meet Saturday in Game 4 of their best-of-7 Stanley Cup Final. Panthers lead series 3-0. Puck drop from Rogers Place in Edmonton is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET (ABC/ESPN+). Below, we analyze BetMGM Sportsbook’s lines around the Panthers vs. Oilers odds, and make our expert NHL picks and predictions.
The Panthers fired out to a 1-0 lead after the first period in Game 3 thanks to a Sam Reinhart even-strength goal, his 9th of the postseason.
In the second period, Warren Foegele energized the crowd at 1:49 to level the score, but Vladimir Tarasenko, Sam Bennett and Aleksander Barkov scored 3 unanswered goals to give Florida a 4-1 lead heading to the room.
In the third, Philip Broberg and Ryan McLeod scored 2 goals to slice Florida’s lead to 4-3, but that’s as close the home side could get.
Now, Edmonton has its back against the wall, and the Lord Stanley’s Cup will be in the building. Will we see Craig Campbell and Phil Pritchard, the Keepers of the Stanley Cup, wearing their white gloves for a presentation of hockey’s famous chalice?
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Panthers at Oilers odds
Provided by BetMGM Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 9:45 a.m. ET.
- Moneyline (ML): Panthers +100 (bet $100 to win $100) | Oilers -120 (bet $120 to win $100)
- Puck line (PL)/Against the spread (ATS): Panthers +1.5 (-275) | Oilers -1.5 (+220)
- Over/Under (O/U): 5.5 (O: +100 | U: -120)
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Panthers at Oilers projected goalies
Sergei Bobrovsky (15-5-0, 2.07 GAA, .916 SV%, 2 SO — 2024 playoffs) vs. Stuart Skinner (11-8-0, 2.59 GAA, .893 SV%, 1 SO — 2024 playoffs)
Bobrovsky allowed 3 goals on 35 shots in Game 3, but the result in the win-loss category was still the same. He has the Panthers on the verge of the franchise’s 1st-ever Stanley Cup, needing just 1 more victory. He has allowed 4 goals on 86 shots in the 3 games, keeping Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid without a goal in this series.
Skinner allowed 4 goals on just 23 shots in the Game 3 loss on home ice, and he is 0-3 with a 3.13 GAA and .868 SV% in the Stanley Cup Final, which just hasn’t been good enough. However, it would help if his offense would give him a little bit of support, too.
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Panthers at Oilers picks and predictions
Prediction
Oilers 3, Panthers 2
Moneyline
The OILERS (-120) are looking to avoid the broom and force this series back to South Florida for at least 1 more game.
Edmonton can take a lesson out of the playbook of the Dallas Mavericks, who faced a series sweep in the NBA Finals Friday night. The Mavs fired out to a hot start in Game 4, and never looked back. The Oilers need to get off to a big start, and not let the Panthers get anything going. It will be easier said than done.
The Oilers not only need to shut down the Panthers early, and get off on the right foot, but McDavid, Draisaitl, Zach Hyman, etc. need to get going before it’s too late.
Puck line/Against the spread
The Panthers +1.5 (-275) will cost you nearly 3 times your potential return, and that’s way too much risk for not enough reward.
If you like Florida, just play it straight up. Taking the Cats on the puck line for a little insurance is just too expensive and risky.
PASS.
Over/Under
UNDER 5.5 (-120) is the lean in Game 4, but be careful and go with a half-unit play at most.
We had a higher-scoring Game 3, with the first Over of the series. However, the first 2 games went low, and we should see that happen again in Game 4.
The hardest game to win is the last one, and the Panthers could have some nerves trying to get that elusive 16th playoff win. The Oilers will likely take few chances, as they don’t want to commit a miscue allowing the Panthers to have a breakaway and scoring chance to other way to make things more difficult for Edmonton.
We could see a low-scoring game, and it wouldn’t be shocking to see a 1-1 or 2-2 score, with the winner decided in overtime.
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For more sports betting picks and tips, check out SportsbookWire.com and BetFTW.
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