Florida (1-3) at Vegas (3-1)
When: Tuesday, June 13th 2023
Where: T-Mobile Arena,
Las Vegas, NV
Time: 8:00 ET | TV: TNT
Opening Odds: Vegas -145/5.5
Much like the Miami Heat, the Florida Panthers have had an exceptional run this postseason and have taken out the best regular season teams in the league. However, they must find it in them to rally once again, or the Vegas Golden Knights will hoist the Stanley Cup. Game 5 is set for Tuesday night and the Las Vegas Strip is ready to party. After dominating Games 1 and 2 at home, the Knights dropped an overtime thriller in Game 3 after holding a late lead, then held off the Panthers 3-2 on Saturday night.
Vegas reached the Stanley Cup Finals five years ago in its inaugural season, but lost the series 4-1 to the Washington Capitals. This time around, the Knights are getting terrific goaltending from Adin Hill, who has allowed just two goals in regulation in each of the first four games of the series. Hill is 10-2-2 this postseason with a sparkling 2.11 GAA, but is not the favorite to take home the Conn Smythe Trophy.
Jonathan Marchessault, who scored 30 goals for the Panthers in the 2016-17 season before they lost him to the Golden Knights in the expansion draft, has 24 points (13 goals, 11 assists) in 21 playoff games. He is -550 to take home the most valuable player award this playoff season. Vegas is a -180 favorite to win Game 5 with a total of 5.5.
Florida trailed 3-1 to the top-seeded Bruins in the opening round of the Eastern Conference playoffs before rallying to win the series. It began with an overtime road win in Game 5. Matthew Tkachuk has tallied 24 points (11 goals, 13 assists) in 20 playoff games, including three goals and three assists in the final three games against the Bruins. Trailing 3-0 in Game 4, Brandon Montour (eighth) finally got the Panthers on the board to make it 3-1 thanks to two favorable deflections. Captain Aleksander Barkov (fifth) got it to 3-2, but Vegas held off a furious surge and the game ended with lots of fights.
For the second game in a row on the road, the Golden Knights played excellent hockey for two periods, only for the host Panthers to make a run in the third. Chandler Stephenson got the scoring started with a breakaway goal to begin the second period, then netted his 10th postseason goal later in the same period. William Karlsson (11th) banged home a rebound to pad the advantage to 3-0. Hill made brilliant saves in the final seconds to save the game.
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The run is about to end for the Panthers. Vegas is too strong offensively and Hill is outdueling Bobvrosky. The Knights have all the momentum and should hoist the Cup tonight.
Pick: Golden Knights -180
