NHL Pick: Panthers ML (-125) at BetOnline (visit our BetOnline Review)
Two of the pre-season favorites to go all the way to the finals have done so, as both the Florida Panthers and Edmonton Oilers will face off in the 2024 Stanley Cup finals.
This is going to be an epic finale to what’s been a decent Playoffs season thus far (not the most exciting but certainly not the worst either).
The first two games will take place in Florida and we are looking to lay the juice on the home team to win on home ice.
If you’re looking for more value picks, make sure to take a look at our YouTube channel. Today, our expert has advice on this matchup by approaching an alternative betting angle.
Edmonton Oilers vs. Florida Panthers
Saturday, June 08, 2024 – 08:00 PM ET at Amerant Bank Arena
Stanley Has Arrived
It is finally upon us. The Stanley Cup finals of 2024 are here and if you followed our sound betting advice earlier in the season, you will see we picked out both these teams as potential finalists. So here we are, with the Panthers seeking revenge after losing in the finals last season, while Connor McDavid and Co are FINALLY in the Stanley Cup finals, it only took about 6 years longer than expected.
The Matchup
These two teams have met four times thus far this season, although we can’t read too much into those games as they were almost meaningless compared to the next few games. It’s worth noting the Oilers won the first two games by an aggregate score of 8-6, but lost the next two games by an aggregate score of 10-4.
This is what the Panthers are best at, figuring out their opponents and turning those losses into wins. Florida can play many different types of hockey, and while the Oilers have improved massively this season defensively, at the end of the day, their best form of defense is attack and this has been proven with four of their players ranking 1st to 4th in the overall points (although it does help they played more games having made the finals. It’s still an impressive feat and the Oilers have scored 176 points compared to the Panthers 147).
On the defensive end, the Panthers have allowed just 2.3 goals compared to Edmonton’s 2.6.
The Pick
The Panthers are a mean team on home ice, they own opponents when playing at home, having gone 12-3 in their previous 15 games. Edmonton have improved on the road but have gone 13-7 in their last 20 road games and three of those wins took overtime.
Interestingly, the Panthers are only 2-8 in their last 10 games on home ice against the Oilers, but that goes all the way back to 2013 and they won their most recent game 5-3.
This is the Stanley Cup finals, and to be fair, anything can happen. It’s very hard to call the winner on any given night, all we can do is go with the odds and our gut.
Of course, the Oilers are tempting at +115, but the Panthers have had an extra day to prepare and it’s hard to ignore how strong this team is, especially on home ice. They will have prepared a plan to try to stop the Oilers’ impressive attackers and if any team can do so, it is the Panthers.
We are going to make a bold statement here and say the Panthers will win the Stanley Cup finals by 4 games to 1 in the series (the series score by which they were beaten last season), for now, we like them at -125 NHL betting odds on the moneyline to pick up their first win in the finals since game three last season.
NHL Pick: Panthers ML (-125) at BetOnline
*The line and/or odds on picks in this article might have moved since the content was commissioned. For updated line movements, visit BMR’s free betting odds product.
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