NHL Best Bets: Stanley Cup Finals Game Two
Game One didn’t go as planned for the Edmonton Oilers, but they shouldn’t be upset with how they played. The Oilers had a great pop in their step right from the opening faceoff, but Sergei Bobrovsky was too much to handle. On the flip side, the Florida Panthers were very opportunistic and finished on most of their quality chances, which they didn’t get much of. Game Two should be a little more exciting than Game One, but if we learned anything from the opening game of this series, the better team in the game won’t always win. Let’s get into our NHL best bets.
Edmonton at Florida (-142, 5.5)
The Edmonton Oilers should feel good about the way they played in Game One. The only thing lacking was the execution. Per MoneyPuck, the Oilers had 5.61 expected goals in the game, but they weren’t able to find a way to put the puck past Bobrovsky. They missed a couple of breakaways and countless chances in the slot. If those bounces go their way, we’re talking about a much different outcome. With that said, Bobrovsky deserves a ton of praise for his performance.
As good as he was in Game One, if he’s required to play that every game, it’s going to be a long series for the Florida Panthers. Edmonton outshot the Panthers 32-17, but a big factor in the win was Florida’s strength on the penalty kill. The Panthers killed off all three of the Oilers’ man-advantages and going into the series special teams was one of the concerns.
With the fear of going down 2-0 in the series, we should see an even better performance from the Oilers just based on the urgency they’ll be playing with. Surely, the Panthers will make proper adjustments, but the speed of Edmonton was a problem for Florida in Game One.
Bobrovsky will most likely face a high shot volume, as the Oilers are generating 29.1 shots on goal in the postseason.
I think the Oilers will bounce back, and I don’t see the big guns like Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Zach Hyman left off the scoresheet twice in a row.
NHL Best Bet(s): Edmonton Oilers ML +120 (play to +105) | Leon Draisaitl over 2.5 shots on goal -130 (play to -140) | Zach Hyman over 3.5 shots on goal -110 (play to -120) | Sergei Bobrovsky over 24.5 saves -130 (play to -145)
June Record: 4-3 (+0.85 units)
2023-24 record: 196–179 (-15.07 units)
