The Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers play Game 5 of their Stanley Cup Playoffs first-round series Monday. Puck drop is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET at BB&T Center in Sunrise, Fla. Below, we analyze the Lightning-Panthers odds and lines, with NHL picks and predictions.
The Lightning posted a 6-2 victory against the Panthers in Game 4, taking a 3-1 series lead to push Florida to the brink. Tampa Bay has rolled up an impressive 4.8 goals per game through four outings in the series.
The Panthers found the back of the net six times in an overtime victory in Game 3 to get back into the series after losing the first two at home. However, they were crushed 6-2 in Game 4, as neither Sergei Bobrovsky or Chris Driedger have shown much consistency in the crease.
Lightning at Panthers: Odds, spread and lines
Odds via BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated at 7:30 a.m. ET.
- Money line: Lightning -115 (bet $115 to win $100) | Panthers -105 (bet $105 to win $100)
- Against the spread/ATS: Lightning -1.5 (+225) | Panthers +1.5 (-275)
- Over/Under: 5.5 (O: -120 | U: +100)
Lightning at Panthers: Projected starting goalies
Andrei Vasilevskiy (31-10-1, 2.21 GAA, .925 SV%, 5 SO) vs. Spencer Knight (4-0-0, 2.32 GAA, .919 SV%)
Vasilevskiy made 39 saves on 41 shots in Game 4 helping the Lightning to the 3-1 series lead. He has made at least 32 saves in each of the four games in this series so far.
Sergei Bobrovsky and Chris Driedger have been a bust so far in this series, and with their backs against the wall, it’s time for Knight to make his first-career postseason start. The 20-year-old Connecticut native has won all four starts in his career from April 20-May 3.
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Lightning at Panthers: Odds, lines, predictions and picks
Prediction
Panthers 4, Lightning 3
Money line (ML)
The PANTHERS (-105) are worth playing in this elimination game on home ice. Turning to Knight will prove to be a good move as Bob and Driedger have been just been too inconsistent. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and the move will pay off, at least for another game.
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Against the spread (ATS)
The Panthers +1.5 (-275) will cost you nearly three times your potential return, and that’s just terribly risky.
AVOID, and play the money line only.
Over/Under (O/U)
OVER 5.5 (-120) is the way to go here as we have seen the Over in three of the four games in this series. In fact, there have been a total of 32 goals through the four games and 8.0 combined goals per outing.
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