Edmonton (1-3) at Florida (3-1)
When: Tuesday, June 18th 2024
Where: Amerant Bank Arena,
Sunrise, FL
Time: 8:20 ET | TV: ESPN
Opening Odds: Florida -135/5.5
Much like what happened in Game 4 of the NBA Finals, the Edmonton Oilers duplicated the Mavericks’ emotion and cruised to an 8-1 victory over the Florida Panthers. Despite tying for the largest margin of victory in a Stanley Cup Final, Edmonton still has a lot to do when the series resumes Tuesday night in Sunrise, Fla.
The Panthers will get three more chances to hoist the franchise’s first Cup and two of those will be at home. Florida is a -135 favorite to win Game 5 on the NHL odds, with the total set at 5.5.
Game 4 was Edmonton’s first victory over the Panthers all season. Prior to that, Florida had outscored Edmonton a combined 21-8 over five straight wins. In six total meetings between the teams this season, the Over is 3-2-1.
On the futures board, Florida remains -1200 to win the Stanley Cup, while the Oilers are at +725. The biggest line movement after Game 4 is Florida goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky going from -500 to -125 to win the Conn Smythe Trophy. He was pulled after allowing five goals and now teammate Aleksander Barkov is on his heels at +135. If there’s a way you think the Oilers can come back and win, take Connor McDavid at +600.
EDMONTON OILERS
Edmonton was focused from the opening face-off, leading 2-0 after eight minutes and never let off the gas. They got five shots past Bobrovsky and three on backup Anthony Stolarz. McDavid led the way with a goal and three assists, while Dylan Holloway had two goals and an assist. Leon Draisaitl recorded his first two points of the series with a pair of assists. Mattias Janmark, Adam Henrique, Darnell Nurse, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Ryan McLeod also scored in the win.
FLORIDA PANTHERS
Before Saturday, Bobrovsky had stopped 82 of 86 shots faced in the first three games of the Stanley Cup Final. He still has a 2.27 goals-against average and .909 save percentage in the postseason and will be back in net Tuesday. Vladimir Tarasenko scored the Panthers’ only goal of the game with assists from Gustav Forsling and Anton Lundell. Florida is 4-1 this postseason after a loss.
Prediction:
Edmonton definitely has some momentum coming back to South Florida but it won’t be as easy. The key to this game is Stuart Skinner stopping enough shots to keep the Oilers in the game. Despite losing Games 1 and 2 on the road, Edmonton is on a 16-4 run when playing at Florida. I can see this series going back north of the border.
