The Florida Panthers are carrying the burden of winning the Presidents’ Trophy as the team which finished with the best regular-season record in the NHL.
No team that has won the award has won — or even appeared in the Stanley Cup finals — since the Chicago Blackhawks won the crown during the 2012-13 season. NHL expert picks show that the Panthers’ impending Eastern Conference semifinal foe is also carrying the weight of history.
In this modern era of NHL play with the salary cup, no team has won the Stanley Cup for three straight seasons. The Tampa Bay Lightning are taking on the challenge of showing they can persevere through the pressure and once again claim the cup. The last team to win the cup three straight years came when the New York Islanders won four in a row from 1980 to 1984.
This series should provide plenty of fireworks and may provide the winner with the momentum to ride into the Stanley Cup final.
Last game records
Tampa Bay beat Toronto 2-1 on May 14 to win its first-round series 4-3. Florida closed out Washington with a 4-3 overtime victory on May 13 on the road.
Matchup information
Lightning at Panthers Betting Analysis
Tampa Bay Betting Analysis
NHL betting stats show Tampa Bay goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy started to find his legs by the end of the Lightning’s first-round series. Vasilevskiy struggled in Games 4 and 5, finishing with a save percentage well below .900. However, in Game 7, the former Vezina Trophy winner stopped 30 of 31 shots to close out the victory.
The Lightning, more importantly, showed in their 2-1 Game 7 victory that there isn’t a style of play they are uncomfortable with. Tampa Bay is willing to get dirty, block shots and make life uncomfortable for opposing offenses. In the first round, the Lightning also found plenty of scoring.
Thirteen different players score for Tampa Bay, including three apiece from Ross Colton and Ondrej Palat, who led the team with three. Nikita Kucherov was a major distributor for Tampa Bay in the opening series, assists on six goals for Tampa while finishing with a team-high eight points.
Florida Betting Analysis
The Panthers had to be wondering if the hockey gods abandoned them completed. Florida won three playoff series during the team’s first-ever trip to the postseason during the 1995-96 season but hadn’t won once since. Defeating the Capitals in six games was a major step forward for the Panthers.
What concerned Florida most about the opening series was how difficult it found scoring goals. The Panthers set an NHL record in the salary-cap era by scoring 337 goals in the regular season. Florida only averaged three goals per game against the Capitals, which was well below their 4.1 season average.
Carter Verhaeghe impressed Florida in the first round, finishing with a team-high six goals and six assists. Center Claude Giroux is second on the team with three goals thus far in the postseason. Sergei Bobrovsky finished the series with a 2.79 goals-against average, and a .906 save percentage for the Panthers.
Updates
Florida left wing Mason Marchment has an undisclosed injury and will miss Game 1. Tampa Bay doesn’t have any injuries of note.
- Tampa Bay is 42-47 against the puckline this season.
- Florida is 44-44 against the puckline.
- The over has gone 49-38 in the Lightning’s games this season.
- The over has gone 47-33 in the Panthers’ games this season.
Lightning at Panthers Betting Preview
NHL betting odds have Florida as a -1.5 favorite on the puckline. The Panthers are -157 on the moneyline, while Tampa Bay is +135. Anyone looking to be on the over/under can do so on a line that is set to seven goals.
Lightning at Panthers Betting Prediction
Making NHL betting picks is always difficult because the sport can take so many twists and turns.
Pucks taking funny bounces, turning heavy favorites into stories of lost potential when things go wrong for things that happen outside of their control. Tampa Bay has the goaltending edge in the series but needed a lot of energy to get past Toronto in the first round.
The Lightning may need a game to bounce back from the energy exerted. Florida also will want to show its divisional rivals that it winning the division was no fluke.
The Panthers will take Game 1 to set up what will be a fun series. The Lightning likely won’t stay down for long, though.
How to bet Lightning at Panthers
Visit your favorite bookmaker, navigate to the ice hockey section, find the correct league, select the desired match and place a bet on Panthers -157.
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