Barely squeaking into the playoffs as the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference, the Florida Panthers enjoyed a marvelous run to the Stanley Cup Final knocking off three heavily-favored 50-win squads to get here. With their season on the brink after a pair of lopsided losses in Sin City, The Panthers hope to turn things around when they host the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 3 on Thursday night. Vegas has been machine-like in its playoff run going 14-5 while averaging a playoff-best 3.89 goals. Their depth on offense was evident in the first two games outscoring the Panthers 12-4 cashing the OVER both times. Covering their last 10 games the Knights have gone over the closing total seven times while winning six of those contests.
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2023 NHL Stanley Cup Final Game 3 Betting Lines
Vegas Golden Knights +1.5 ( -246 )
Florida Panthers -1.5 ( +212 )
Total: 6
Money Line: Vegas +104, Florida -120
Picks for NHL Stanley Cup Final Game 3
We can talk a lot about the Vegas offense and the ability of virtually everyone on the roster to score goals or points. Nine different players accounted for their 12 goals in the first two games of the Stanley Cup Final with Jonathan Marchessault and Brett Howden each scoring twice on Monday night. Marchessault in particular has been on fire recently making a move up the futures odds list for the Conn Smythe Trophy. He leads the team with 12 playoff goals, all of them coming since the start of Game 3 of the second round series with Edmonton.
The veteran winger notched just two assists in the Knights’ opening seven playoff encounters and has now scored in three straight games and in six of the last seven. He has three multi-goal games including a hat trick in the series clinching win over Edmonton. Marchessault is the hottest player right now, but the club has used a balanced attack to lead all teams in playoff scoring with nearly four goals a game.
Thirteen players have scored multiple goals this postseason with eight of them tallying at least four times. The guys expected to produce are doing that with Jack Eichel tallying a team-best 22 points in 19 games. Depth players are also getting in on the act with guys like Michael Amadio scoring nine points in 13 games while averaging 12 minutes of ice time. It’s hard to stop a club that comes at you from everywhere and the Knights are relentless.
We haven’t even mentioned the goalie situation for Vegas, which looked impacted when starter Laurent Brossoit was injured in the Edmonton series. Adin Hill stepped in making the transition seamless and the Knights haven’t skipped a beat. Starting the last 11 games Hill has a .933 save percentage while posting two shutouts. In 13 games overall he’s 9-3 with a 2.05 GAA and .937 save percentage.
It was thought that the Panthers would have the edge in net entering the series with Sergei Bobrovsky posting outstanding numbers. An average goalie during the regular season, Bobrovsky has reverted to that form surrendering eight goals on 46 shots (.826 SP) in the first two games. Overall defense, goaltending and undisciplined play has been Florida’s downfall so far. You can’t give team’s extra chances with the man-advantage and the Panthers have done that racking up 130 PIMs in the series and allowing Vegas to convert 4 of 11 power play chances. Meanwhile the Panthers have yet to convert on any of their five PPs.
The aggressive style has hurt Florida, but Matthew Tkachuk says the team isn’t going to change. They better control their emotions better in Game 3 with scoring leader Tkachuk needed on the ice. Without the depth scoring Vegas has, Tkachuk has to stay out of the penalty box and play his usual 20-22 minutes. He was on the ice for just under 16 minutes in Game 2 scoring a goal, but it wasn’t nearly enough.
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