The Edmonton Oilers and the Florida Panthers meet Monday in Game 2 NHL Stanley Cup Finals action from the Amerant Bank Arena. Here’s an Florida Panthers vs Edmonton Oilers Prediction.
Game One Recap: Florida Draws First Blood
The Florida Panthers took the opener of the series on Saturday by knocking off the Oilers by a final score of 3-0. Carter Verhaeghe opened the scoring for the Panthers just under four minutes into the game with the lone goal of the opening frame before Evan Rodrigues doubled Florida’s advantage 2:16 into the second period. Edmonton outshot Florida 25-12 through the first two periods and 7-6 in the 3rd, but the Oilers wouldn’t be able to break through as Eetu Luostarinen put home an empty-netter to make it 3-0 and to ice the series-opening win for Florida. Sergei Bobrovsky got the win in goal for Florida with a 32-save shutout, while Stuart Skinner took the loss for Edmonton after allowing 2 goals on 17 shots in the defeat.
Edmonton Oilers Player Stats
Connor McDavid leads the Oilers in scoring with 132 points including a team-high 100 assists while Leon Draisaitl has 106 points with 41 goals and 65 assists. Zach Hyman has 77 points with a team-high 54 goals while Evan Bouchard has 82 points with 18 goals and 64 assists as well. Evander Kane has 44 points with 24 goals and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has 67 points with 49 assists this season. Stuart Skinner is 36-16-5 with a 2.62 GAA and a .905 save percentage while Calvin Pickard is 12-7-1 with a 2.45 GAA and a .909 save percentage this season.
Why the Edmonton Oilers will win
- The underdogs have won four of the last six games between the Oilers and Panthers.
- The underdogs have covered the puck line in five of the Panthers’ last six games.
- The Panthers have failed to cover the puck line in five of their last six games at Amerant Bank Arena following a win.
Florida Panthers Player Stats
Sam Reinhart leads the Panthers in scoring with 94 points including a team-high 57 goals and 37 assists while Aleksander Barkov has 80 points with 23 goals and 57 assists. Carter Verhaeghe has 72 points with 34 goals and 38 assists while Matthew Tkachuk has 88 points with 62 assists of his own this season. Sergei Bobrovsky has posted a 36-17-4 mark with a 2.37 GAA and .915 save percentage in goal for Florida this season while Anthony Stolarz is 16-7-2 with a 2.03 GAA and a .925 save percentage this season.
Why the Florida Panthers will win
- The Panthers have won seven of their last eight home games against Pacific Division opponents.
- The Oilers have lost each of their last four road games against Atlantic Division opponents.
- The Oilers have failed to cover the puck line in each of their last 10 road games against Atlantic Division opponents.
- The Panthers have covered the puck line in each of their last three games against the Oilers.
- The Oilers have lost the third period in each of their last six road games.
Florida Panthers vs Edmonton Oilers Prediction
I’m on the Panthers here. I just think that the Panthers have more firepower and have the edge across the board in this series. Edmonton’s going to have the two best players on the ice in McDavid and Draisaitl, but the Panthers have the greater depth throughout the lines after the top-end talent and they also have a significant edge in goaltending and in experience at this level having been in the finals last season. The Panthers are also rock solid at home while the Oilers have been a far better team at home all year long. I’ll roll with Florida to take a 2-0 series lead.