Florida Panthers at Carolina Hurricanes (-125, 5.5)
Game One
8 p.m. ET
The NHL’s Eastern Conference Final begins tonight in Carolina, and for the second time in three seasons, we have a Florida-Carolina matchup. The Panthers are the series favorite (-130), but the Hurricanes, off since last Thursday, are the Game One favorite (-125). This will be the first time these teams have seen each other since Jan. 2. Florida won two of the three regular-season meetings, but those were with Spencer Martin between the pipes for Carolina as both Freddie Andersen and Pyotr Kochetkov were sidelined with injuries. Both goalies are back for Carolina, but who knows with Freddie, who always seems to come up with an injury.
Carolina is 5-0 at home in this year’s playoffs, outscoring the opposition 21-8. For the Hurricanes to stay perfect at home, they are going to do something they haven’t done in their last three trips to the third round of the playoffs, and that is win a game, having dropped 12 in a row. The Panthers, fresh off their Game Seven win at Toronto, are 5-2 on the road in this year’s playoffs, outscoring their opponents 33-16. Mixed into Florida’s 33 goals scored are two six-goal games against Toronto, slightly skewing the numbers. I have a feeling tonight is the night the Hurricanes finally win a third-round game, but I still like Florida to win the series. With that in mind, instead of laying the (-125) juice, I will play Carolina to win Game One, tied to Florida winning the series (+310). I also like the Panthers to win this series in six games or fewer. With that, I am also on the Panthers series spread of -1.5 games.
On to the player props. Florida’s Aaron Ekblad has had 14 shots on goal (4,4,6) in his last three games. Sam Bennett’s 35 shots on goal in the playoffs are second on the team. Bennett had four or more shots on goal in two of the three regular-season meetings and was held to one shot on goal in the other. When these teams last met in the playoffs, Bennett had 19 shots on goal in the four-game sweep, recording three or more shots on goal (6, 3, 4, 6) in each game. Brad Marchand’s three goals and eight points led the Panthers in the second round against Toronto. He has tortured the Hurricanes in the playoffs, dating to his days in Boston, with nine goals and 23 points in 16 playoff games.
On the Carolina side, Andrei Svechnikov leads the team with eight goals in the playoffs, but he has yet to score in 15 games against Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky. Seth Jarvis is tied for the team points lead with 10 (4 goals, 6 assists) and currently has points in four consecutive games. Jarvis has scored three goals in six regular-season games against Bobrovsky, and he scored in the previous playoff series against the Panthers. Taylor Hall has five goals and eight points in seven career playoff games versus the Panthers, including a pair of goals against Bobrovsky.
Game One and Series Predictions:
Carolina to win Game One/Florida to win the series (+310) – .25 units
Florida series spread -1.5 games (+154) – 1.5 units
Aaron Ekblad Over 1.5 shots on goal (-135) – .50 units
Aaron Ekblad Over 2.5 shots on goal (+240) – .25 units
Sam Bennett Over 2.5 shots on goal (+100) – .50 units
Brad Marchand Over ½ point (+125) – .25 units
Seth Jarvis anytime goal (+210) – .20 units
Taylor Hall anytime goal (+450) – .20 units
Taylor Hall Over ½ assist (+240) – .20 units
