Game 1 Oilers vs Panthers NHL Odds and Preview
Edmonton, Florida Look for First in Cup Final Opener in Sunrise
The Florida Panthers and Edmonton Oilers will each try for to pull within three wins of the Stanley Cup when they square off in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final on Saturday night at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Florida.
Florida is back in the Stanley Cup Final for the second straight year after falling to the Vegas Golden Knights in five games a season ago. The Panthers are 12-5 in the playoffs and are coming off a six-game win over the New York Rangers in the Eastern Conference Final.
Edmonton, known as Canada’s City of Champions due to its five Stanley Cup championships since joining the NHL in 1979. The Oilers are back in the Cup Final for the first time since 2006, which was nine years before captain Connor McDavid was chosen first overall.
McDavid is the favorite to win the Conn Smythe Trophy since he is leading the playoffs in points. But goalie Sergei Bobrovsky and forward Aleksander Barkov have the two-shortest odds for the Panthers.
Here are the Oilers vs Panthers NHL odds for Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final.
Oilers vs Panthers 
📊Records: Edmonton Oilers (0-0) at Florida Panthers (0-0)
📍Location: Amarent Bank Arena
⏰Day/Time: 📺Streaming: ESPN, ESPN+
Florida Favored
The Panthers have a home-ice advantage due to their six-point advantage in the regular-season standings. If you’ve followed the NHL scores throughout the playoffs, you know the Panthers have been dominant on home ice and in Game 1s.
Oddsmakers expect that trend to continue in the Cup Final. The Panthers are a slight -135 favorite for Game 1, which gives them a 57% implied probability.
Florida are 6-3 on its home ice in the postseason and is 2-1 in Game 1s. The Panthers are 1-1 in Game 1s on home ice, with their defeat coming against the Boston Bruins in the second round.
The Oilers are also 2-1 in Game 1s and 1-1 in series openers on the road in the postseason. But they are a +114 underdog in Game 1, comparable odds of their +115 odds of winning the series.
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The home-ice advantage is important because Florida coach Paul Maurice will have the last chance for four of the seven potential games in the series.
Thus, Maurice is likely to put Barkov, along with linemates Carter Verhaeghe and Sam Reinhart, up against McDavid, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, and Zach Hyman. Barkov won his second Selke Trophy for best defensive forward and has stymied superstar opponents like Nikita Kucherov, David Pastrnak, and Artemi Panarin in these playoffs.
The Panthers have dominated at 5-on-5 in these playoffs, and Maurice’s goal of putting Barkov’s line against McDavid’s would be for Florida’s top unit could tire out Edmonton’s top line by defending.
Florida is deeper at forward than Edmonton, and if Barkov neutralizes McDavid, it would put the onus on Leon Draisaitl and the Oilers second line to produce points. Draisaitl is second in the playoffs in points (28) but has only half of his offensive output at even strength.
Special Teams Matters
The Oilers and Panthers rank Nos. 1-2 in penalty killing in these playoffs, with each team riding a hot shorthanded streak into the Cup Final.
The Oilers have killed 28 consecutive power plays against, a franchise record, and have allowed just three power-play goals in 49 short-handed attempts. Edmonton also leads the NHL in power-play percentage (37.3%) led by McDavid (14 power-play points), Draisaitl (six goals, 14 points on power play), Hyman (five PPGs), and Evan Bouchard (12 power-play points).
So Florida will want to play as much time at 5-on-5 as possible, though it has neutralized a powerful man advantage in these playoffs already. The New York Rangers entered the Eastern Conference Final with the third-best PP in the playoffs, but they scored just one goal on 15 man-advantage attempts last round.
The Panthers’ PP will have its work cut out for it against Edmonton’s dominant PK. Florida has a 23.3% power-play success rate, sixth-best in the playoffs, but went 5 for 19 (26.3%) with the man-advantage against the Rangers.
Vegas Expects Goals
The Panthers and Oilers are two of the highest-scoring teams, which is why the Stanley Cup odds makers set the over as the predicted outcome in Game 1.
DraftKings set -118 odds over 5.5 goals, which carries an implied probability of 54.1%. The under carries -102 odds despite the fact Florida is allowing the fewest goals against of any postseason team to play at least 10 games and surrendered just 12 goals in its six-game series win over New York.
Despite its high-octane offense, Edmonton has also been stingy, surrendering just 2.61 goals per game in the playoffs. The under went 4-2 in the Oilers-Stars Western Conference Final series.
Edmonton may have the top-three and five of the top-seven point producers in the postseason, led by McDavid’s 31 points in 18 games. But there should be a feeling-out period between the teams as they shake the nervous energy of the Cup Final series — especially since the clubs have not played since Dec. 16.
For what it’s worth, there were at least six goals in both regular-season meetings, which Florida won by a combined score of 10-4. However, Edmonton starting goalie Stuart Skinner did not play in either regular-season game, with Calvin Pickard giving up nine goals on 71 shots.
Prediction
Our NHL prediction was for the Panthers to win the series in six games. The Game 1 winner of the Cup Final has won 76.2% of the championship-round series.
Look for Florida to retain home-ice advantage in Game 1.
Panthers 3, Oilers 2
Oilers vs Panthers NHL Odds
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