The Florida Panthers and Carolina Hurricanes play Game 2 of a best-of-7 Eastern Conference Finals series Saturday. Puck drop from PNC Arena in Raleigh, N.C., is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET (TNT).
The Panthers won the 6th-longest game in NHL postseason history, outlasting the Hurricanes 3-2 in 4OT Thursday night. LW Matthew Tkachuk snuck in a goal with 12.7 seconds left in 4OT, ending the marathon.
Carolina’s Frederik Andersen was tasked with making 57 saves on 60 shots, while Florida’s Sergei Bobrovsky kicked aside 63 of the 65 shots he faced.
Some of the ice time totals were staggering, especially for defenseman. Florida’s Brandon Montour set a franchise record with 57:56 of TOI, while Gustav Forsling wasn’t far behind, logging 55:41 Aaron Ekblad also went over the 50-minute mark, posting 52:10. Meanwhile Radko Gudas delivered 12 hits, while blocking 6 shots Marc Staal also tied for the team lead with 6 BS.
Among the forwards for the Panthers Aleksander Barkov and Carter Verhaeghe each had 44-plus minutes, and each had a goal and an assist in regulation. Tkachuk also went over 40 minutes.
For the home side, defenseman Brent Burns posted 54:43 of TOI to lead the team, while also blocking 10 shots and delivering 5 hits. He picked up an assist, too Jaccob Slavin had 51:41 of TOI with 6 BS, joining the 50-minute club.
Among forwards Sebastian Aho led the team with 45:56 of TOI, posting an assist with 6 shots on goal (SOG Seth Jarvis, the only Carolina player with 2 points, a goal and an assist, ended up with 41:32 of TOI and 4 SOG with 3 BS.
Panthers at Hurricanes odds
- Moneyline (ML): Panthers +130 (bet $100 to win $130) | Hurricanes -155 (bet $155 to win $100)
- Puck line (PL)/Against the spread (ATS): Panthers +1.5 (-200) | Hurricanes -1.5 (+165)
- Over/Under (O/U): 5.5 (O: -120 | U: +100)
Panthers at Hurricanes projected goalies
Sergei Bobrovsky (24-20-3, 3.07 GAA, .901 SV%, 1 SO – regular season) vs. Frederik Andersen (21-11-1, 2.48 GAA, .903 SV% – regular season)
Bobrovsky was outstanding in Game 1, making a franchise-record 63 saves. With 50 saves in Game 5 in Toronto to close out that series in OT, he is 1 of just 3 goalies with consecutive 50-save playoff games since 1956.
Bob is now 8-2-0 with a 2.43 GAA and .927 SV% in 10 postseason starts and 11 appearances. The wins and SV% are a career high, and his GAA is just shy of his best of 2.41 set in the 2019 postseason with the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Andersen’s 57 saves set a new franchise playoff record for a single game. Frank Pietrangelo had the previous record, posting 53 saves for the Hartford Whalers in a Game 7 loss against the Montreal Canadiens in the 1992 Adams Division Semifinals, also a 3-2 loss.
Andersen actually lowered his GAA for the postseason despite the loss, as he is 5-1 with a 1.65 GAA and .936 SV% in 7 postseason starts.
Panthers at Hurricanes picks and predictions
Prediction
Hurricanes 3, Panthers 2
Moneyline
I expect the HURRICANES (-155) to return the favor, and win a 3-2 battle in Game 2 on home ice, leveling the series. It wouldn’t be surprising to see another OT battle, either.
The Panthers (+130) are hot, posting 7 straight victories on the road in the playoffs since dropping Game 1 in the Boston series to start the postseason. Florida has won 5 in a row on a day of rest, while going 13-3 in the past 16 games on the road dating back to the regular season.
It’s not going to be easy for Carolina, but expect a hard-fought win in Game 2.
Puck line/Against the spread
The Panthers +1.5 (-200) will set you back twice as much as your potential return, and that’s just too much risk for not enough reward. If you like Florida, just play it straight up.
PASS.
Over/Under
The UNDER 5.5 (+100) is most logical play on the board.
Thursday’s game was a marathon session, and Friday will be used for a recovery day after playing the equivalent of basically 2 1/3 games in the series opener. Expect both sides to be sluggish, especially early on. In fact UNDER 1.5 FIRST PERIOD GOALS (-120) should be a slam-dunk play for all bettors, and I like that even more than the overall game total.