The Vegas Golden Knights have gone up 2-0 and defended home ice in the Stanley Cup Final. Is the NHL season essentially over, or do the Florida Panthers have value?Vegas Golden Knights (-500) vs. Florida Panthers (+400)
Vegas has been the superior team for two games and continued to play exactly like they have all playoffs, while the Panthers have struggled to find momentum after being off for nearly two weeks. The long layoff before the Stanley Cup Final started has hindered the Panthers, especially their goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky. Florida’s netminder entered the Stanley Cup Final as the odds-on favorite to win the Conn Smythe trophy, but he’s struggled in both contests and was pulled in Game 2, putting that thought in severe jeopardy now. Bobrovsky hasn’t been stopping pucks the way he did in the first three rounds of the playoffs, which really emphasizes some of the Panthers’ biggest weaknesses.
Vegas’s price to win the series is listed at -500, and there’s no point in considering an option that’s juiced to that point. On the other side of the equation, the Panthers are listed at +400 to come back and win this series. Florida came from behind in the opening round of the playoffs after being behind 3-1 to the Boston Bruins. Still, seeing something similar in the Stanley Cup Final against Vegas is a hard sell. As good as the Panthers’ run has been, the Golden Knights are built in such a different way, and it’s hard to see them blowing this type of lead with how good they’ve looked through two games.
Where there might be some value to consider is in the series spread. Headed to Florida now for Games 3 and 4, the most logical thing to expect is for the teams to split or for Vegas to end this matchup in a sweep. The Golden Knights are listed at -114 to cover the -2.5 games in the series spread, and there’s some nice value in that number. Vegas has done an excellent job of getting to the difficult areas in this series and making life incredibly difficult for Bobrovsky. None of the Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs, or Carolina Hurricanes pressured the veteran goalie consistently. Florida’s been able to do what they have, mainly because of Bobrovsky’s hot play in goal. If he has turned back into a pumpkin, the end is in sight for the Cinderella Panthers, and the Golden Knights have direct value to win this series in five games at +220.
Odds courtesy FanDuel Sportsbook.
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