The “rest vs. rust” question for the Florida Panthers has an answer after Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final: It was rust, as the Vegas Golden Knights took a 1-0 series lead with a 5-2 win.
The nine-day layoff between winning the Eastern Conference and starting the Final at the Knights really hit the Panthers in the second period, where Vegas took over the game with a plus-7 shot attempt advantage at 5-on-5 and Florida looked out of sorts.
With a game under their belts, will the Panthers rebound in Game 2? The Golden Knights are a -140 money line favorite to win. While we’re not on that, here are some of the other wagers we’re looking at for Game 2:
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Odds courtesy Caesars Sportsbook unless otherwise noted.
Stanley Cup Final Game 2: Florida Panthers at Vegas Golden Knights
Puck line: Vegas -1.5
Money line: Florida (+118), Vegas (-140)
Total: 5.5
Panthers over 2.5 goals (-139)
Florida had some absolutely rotten puck luck in Game 1. The Panthers hit the post four times and had Nick Cousins stopped on a wild paddle save by Adin Hill. Any one of those goes in and Florida hits the over on the team total in Game 1. So let’s assume a little better luck and some added desperation gets this over the total.
Oh, and while Eric Staal scored a shorty for them in Game 1, it would certainly help if Florida didn’t have to kill so many penalties.
Mark Stone over 2.5 shots (+110)
Stone had a monster Game 1 in the shot department with seven pucks on goal. He’s been over this total in three straight games and has had four or more shot attempts in four straight games. His line was matched up mostly with Aleksander Barkov‘s trio for the Panthers and was plus-7 in shot attempts. Stone could be heating up at the right time.
Running back this Game 1 wager again for Game 2. The former St. Louis Blues forward is playing on the Vegas top line with Jack Eichel and Jonathan Marchessault. He’s also seeing a significant amount of power-play time. He has points in seven of his past nine games. At even money, he’s unquestionably worth a sprinkle.
Panthers to score first (-107)
The Golden Knights are favored to score the first goal in Game 2 (-140). But they didn’t do so in Game 1. They haven’t done so in 11 of 18 playoff games. And they haven’t done so in eight of 10 home playoff games. The Panthers, meanwhile, have opened the scoring in six of 10 road games.
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Golden Knights take Game 1 behind 3rd-period surge
The Golden Knights score three goals in the third period as they capture a 5-2 victory in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final vs. the Panthers.
Source: www.espn.com