- What: Florida Panthers vs Vegas Golden Knights - Stanley Cup Finals Game 2
- Where: T-Mobile Arena
- When: Monday, June 5th
The 2023 Stanley Cup Finals will continue on Monday evening in Sin City as the Vegas Golden Knights take a 1-0 series lead against the Florida Panthers into Game 2 in front of their home fans. The puck is scheduled to drop at 8 PM ET at T-Mobile Arena. Florida will be hoping to even things up before heading back home. Game 1 saw Vegas dominate, winning 5-2 and scoring three unanswered in the third period. Find the Panthers vs Golden Knights Game 2 picks below.
Before we get into the odds and prediction for Monday's encounter, make sure to check out our online sportsbook reviews, and the top NHL betting sites.
Panthers vs Golden Knights Odds
Once again, Vegas is the favorite with -131 moneyline odds for an implied win probability of 56.71%. Florida comes back at +119 and has a 45.66% chance of coming out victorious. The Golden Knights are also favored by 1.5 goals on the puck line. The total comes in at 5.5 and the over was comfortably hit in the series opener. Vegas has now won four of the last six against their Stanley Cup opposition.
Panthers Looking to Respond
Throughout these playoffs, Florida has truly been riding a high. Knocking off the Boston Bruins was one thing, but they also eliminated the Toronto Maple Leafs and Carolina Hurricanes. Losing just isn't in their vocabulary over the last month and a half, but they were quickly brought down to reality on Saturday evening.
Eric Staal got his team started on the right foot with an early goal in the first period and after a pair of goals for Vegas, Anthony Duclair equalized towards the end of the second. However, it all came crashing down in the third as the Golden Knights erupted and beat Sergei Bobrovsky three times to take the lead for good, although the last one was an empty netter.
The Panthers had a serious problem with penalties here and it came back to hurt them. They went to the box a total of seven times and Vegas scored twice on the man advantage. Florida has to clean that up and be a lot more diligent when it comes to making careless mistakes. A team like the Golden Knights will just continuously hurt them.
On a more positive note, Paul Maurice's squad has only lost back-to-back games once in the postseason and that was way back in the first round against the Boston Bruins. They always respond after a defeat and it wouldn't be a surprise to see that again Monday on the road.
Golden Knights Three Wins Away
Vegas is in their second Stanley Cup in the last six seasons. Not bad for a fairly new franchise. While they did lose in 2018 to Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals, it could be a much different story this time around. The Golden Knights took down three solid teams to make it this far in the Winnipeg Jets, Edmonton Oilers, and the Dallas Stars.
With T-Mobile Arena rocking on Saturday, Bruce Cassidy's group took full advantage and built off the momentum in the building. Jonathan Marchessault scored the team's first goal of the Finals when he tied things up in the first period. Shea Theodore also added another in the second before Mark Stone, Zach Whitecloud, and Reilly Smith all found the back of the net in the final period.
As previously mentioned, Florida got in serious penalty trouble and Vegas capitalized. They will be hoping to keep playing that physical type of hockey and forcing the Panthers to hurt themselves. In goal, Adin Hill shined again, making 35 saves. He's truly been a star in the playoffs for the Western Conference champs and will be a very important factor as this series rolls on.
The Knights have lost just three times in the playoffs on home ice and if they can grab another victory Monday, it's going to be absolutely massive in their pursuit of the Cup. A 2-0 hole is certainly not impossible to come back from, but it would put Florida in a difficult spot, even though Games 2 and 3 are at home.
Panthers vs Golden Knights Game 3 Picks
There's something to consider here. Florida has yet to win a game in Vegas since they became an NHL franchise. Could that change Monday? Perhaps. But, this Golden Knights team is very good at home. I'm liking the hosts to win this one and take a 2-0 stranglehold. Also, the over 5.5 goals look good. Expect offense, despite two solid goaltenders on both sides. After all, this is the Stanley Cup Finals.
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