Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals will take place on Saturday. The Edmonton Oilers will take on the Florida Panthers. The Edmonton Oilers are the Western Conference winners, while the Florida Panthers won the Eastern Conference.
Edmonton went 49-27-6 in the regular season, and finished second in the Pacific Division. The Oilers went through the postseason and knocked out the Los Angeles Kings in five games, the Vancouver Canucks in seven, and the Dallas Stars in six.
For the Florida Panthers, they won the Atlantic Division by a single point over Boston. The Panthers won their final four regular season games to do so. Florida then beat the Lightning in five games, the Bruins in six games, and the New York Rangers in six as well.
The Florida Panthers are -135 over the Edmonton Oilers in this game. The total for the affair is 5.5 goals. On the puckline, the Panthers are -1.5 (+180), and the Oilers come into the game at +1.5 (-235).
Edmonton Oilers from the West
Stuart Skinner expects to be in between the pipes for the Edmonton Oilers in this game. During the regular season, the goalender went 36-16-5, and allowed 2.62 goals per game. In the postseason, Skinner has gone 11-5. In the Game 6 win over Dallas, he allowed just 1 goal on 34 shots.
The Edmonton Oilers have four of the top point scorers in the postseason so far. Connor McDavid has scored 31 points, while Leon Draisaitl and Evan Bouchard have 27. Tied for fourth is Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. McDavid was the top man during the regular season in all of the NHL with 32 goals and 100 assists.
As a team, Edmonton was fourth in the league with 3.56 goals per game. The Oilers recorded the most shots on goal, with nearly 34 per game. The Oilers power play is one of the best in the league, as they convert more than 26% of their chances.
Florida Panthers From the East
For Florida, Sergei Bobrovsky will get the start in net. He went 36-17-4 in the regular season, and allowed 2.37 goals per game. In the postseason, he has played in every game for Florida, going 12-5. He was also sharp in the Game 7 win over the Rangers. He allowed just a single goal on 24 shot attempts.
Matthew Tkachuk has been the top contributor for the Panthers. He has 5 goals and 14 assists to lead the way. Aleksander Barjov and Carter Verhaeghe are next with 17 points for Florida. Verhaeghe leads the team with 9 goals in the postseason.
During the regular season it was Sam Reinhart. He scored 57 goals and dished out 37 assists. Tkachuk was second on the team with 88 points, while Barkov came away with 80.
Panthers Top Oilers
The Florida Panthers have passed every test all season. The Panthers were here a season ago, and got stopped short by Vegas. They are obviously looking to reverse their fortunes this season.
Look for Florida to play a sharp game, and come away with a Game 1 victory over Florida. Our final bet for this game is the Florida Panthers -135 over the Edmonton Oilers. Enjoy the game!
