The Florida Panthers and the Vegas Golden Knights continue their best-of-7 series on Tuesday with Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final. Vegas leads the series 3-1. Puck drop from T-Mobile Arena is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET (TNT). Below, we analyze BetMGM Sportsbook’s lines around the Panthers vs. Golden Knights odds, and make our expert NHL picks and predictions.
Stanley will be in the building on Tuesday night. No, not Stanley C. Panther, the Florida mascot, but THE Stanley. The holy grail of hockey. The best trophy in all of sports.
The precession is amazing, with the black case, the two guys in blazers with white gloves, etc. Do they come out at T-Mobile Arena on Tuesday night in Las Vegas?
VGK pushed Florida to the brink of elimination Saturday night with a 3-2 victory in Sunrise. The Golden Knights were up 3-0 midway through the 2nd period, all 5-on-5 goals, and Vegas failed to score a power-play goal for the 1st time in this series.
Florida fought hard, as Brandon Montour scored late in the 2nd, and Aleksander Barkov scored early in the 3rd, but that’s as close as the Panthers would get. They’re now 1-7 all-time in Stanley Cup Finals games.
Game 4 ended with some ugliness, too. After the horn sounded, and VGK won, there was a donnybrook. Irritant Matthew Tkachuk was involved, earning a slashing and unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, his 4th of the series, and 5th of the postseason. He is the 7th player in NHL history to have that many in a playoffs.
In addition, Tkachuk is believed to be battling a shoulder ailment, and his status is actually up in the air for Game 5. He was limited to just 16:40 of TOI, his second-lowest playing time of the entire postseason. It is believed that a crushing blow from VGK’s Keegan Kolesar in Game 3, which forced Tkachuk off the ice to get checked for concussion, is when he suffered the injury.
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Panthers at Golden Knights odds
Provided by BetMGM Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated Monday at 6:53 p.m. ET.
- Moneyline (ML): Panthers +145 (bet $100 to win $145) | Golden Knights -175 (bet $175 to win $100)
- Puck line (PL)/Against the spread (ATS): Panthers +1.5 (-190) | Golden Knights -1.5 (+155)
- Over/Under (O/U): 6 (O: +100 | U: -120)
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Panthers at Golden Knights projected goalies
Sergei Bobrovsky (24-20-3, 3.07 GAA, .901 SV%, 1 SO – regular season) vs. Adin Hill (16-7-1, 2.50 GAA, .915 SV% – regular season)
Bobrovsky stopped 28 of the 31 shots he faced, and he had a clean 2nd half of the game. However, he hasn’t been nearly the same brick wall as he was during the previous 2 series against the Toronto Maple Leafs and Carolina Hurricanes. Bob is just 1-3 with a 3.74 GAA and .875 SV%.
Hill wasn’t even among the top 2 goaltenders for VGK during the regular season, and now he is 1 win away from having his named etched on Lord Stanley’s Cup. He stopped 29 of the 31 shots he faced en route to his 10th win of the postseason. Hill had just 16 wins in the regular season.
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Panthers at Golden Knights picks and predictions
Prediction
Panthers 3, Golden Knights 2
Moneyline
Call it part wishful thinking, as I don’t want the hockey season to end, and part amazing value play. The PANTHERS (+145) are worth a roll of the dice, against all odds on the road, as they look to extend their season and keep their championship hopes alive.
It could be quite an uphill climb if Tkachuk is again limited, or worse, unable to go. However, on a positive note, Florida managed to keep the Golden Knights (-175) power-play unit quiet for the first time in this series in Game 4. If Bobrovsky and the Panthers can do that again, there is a chance Florida sends this one back across the country for a Game 6.
Puck line/Against the spread
The Panthers +1.5 (-190) is just a little too rich for my blood, although if you were to include the Florida puck line with Under 5.5, it pays +180, and it is very much worth it for a little insurance.
PASS.
Over/Under
UNDER 6 (-120) is the lean again in Game 5. This is desperation time, and as the intensity has ratcheted up, the scores have ratcheted down.
We saw a pair of Over results in Games 1 and 2 on The Strip, but a pair of Under results in Games 3 and 4, with a lot more hard hitting and chippy play. I believe the latter continues, and going low is your best bet for Game 5.
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