Will the Knights win the Cup on Tuesday night?
We are heading into the home stretch of our Golden Knights vs. Panthers betting in the NHL and possibly already into the finish line on Tuesday night. Then the Vegas Golden Knights could win the Stanley Cup for the first time in their history.
To do so, they must now return to Vegas, where they have won five of their last six play-off games. But if there has been one team this season that has been able to pull itself out of seemingly hopeless situations, it is the Florida Panthers.
In the regular season they were already well behind the play-off places and in Round 1 against the Boston Bruins it was already 1:3 in the series. The Knights should therefore not be too sure yet.
So for Vegas vs. Florida our forecast for Game 5 is indeed a game on a razor’s edge, in which the number of goals should not be quite as high as at the beginning of the series. In elimination games, the focus traditionally grows on the defenses.
First face-off of the fifth and possibly already decisive duel of these Stanley Cup Finals is on Wednesday night at 2:00 a.m. in Las Vegas. The game can be seen live on Sky as well as on NHL.
Vegas Golden Knights – Statistics & current form
3:1 – that already seems very safe, as only one team managed to triumph in the Stanley Cup Finals after trailing 1:3. And that comeback was a long time ago (1942: Toronto Maple Leafs against the Detroit Red Wings).
But the Panthers managed such a comeback already in Round 1 against the Bruins, so Vegas should be wide awake. Especially since Game 4 was again a very tight affair and open until the very last seconds.
Adin Hill the X-Factor
But then it was Adin Hill again who secured the win with a spectacular pad save. Just as he had already contributed decisively to the success in Game 1 with an incredible stick save. Hill is undoubtedly the better of the two goalies so far.
Already in three games of the finals he could show a save percentage of over 93%. In comparison: Sergei Bobrovsky has never managed this. Goalies win Stanley Cups and this wisdom could prove to be true again this year.
Discipline of the Knights also crucial
Another issue has also been and remains one of the crucial points in this series: discipline. While the Panthers now stand at 174 penalty minutes over the four games played, the Knights have “only” 100 to their credit.
In general, the number of penalty minutes is crazy high in these finals and especially Florida regularly shoots itself in the foot with it. If the Golden Knights keep such a calm head on Tuesday, it would already be half the battle for success.
Low Scoring Game likely
This makes the Vegas odds on Knights vs Panthers well worth considering, even though we do favour under points in this duel. After all, in games where everything is at stake, the goal total traditionally plummets.
The game in which a Stanley Cup champion was crowned in recent years saw three goals in 2022 (2-1), just one in 2021 (1-0) and also just two in 2020 (2-0). The closer it gets to being decided, the lower the goal totals in the NHL.
Key Players:
- G: Adin Hill
- D: Alec Martinez
- D: Alex Pietrangelo
- LW: Ivan Barbashev
- C: Jack Eichel
- RW: Jonathan Marchessault
Florida Panthers – Statistics & current form
It’s getting tight for the Florida Panthers. Now it needs another small “miracle” like in Round 1 against the Bruins to pull the head out of the noose once again. Can this succeed? Yes. Is it likely? More likely no.
Because the Knights look too settled for that in this series. We’ve already talked about their significantly fewer penalties, but it’s also evident in their scoring. Florida’s scoring rate is well under 10% – too low for a Finals series.
Bobrovsky must rise above
In addition, of course, it is noticeable that the Knights have the better goalie, which was not necessarily to be expected before the final series. We saw the much more experienced Bobrovsky slightly ahead. However, he has had a hard time putting his stamp on the games so far.
His best save percentage so far in this series was 92.6%. Twice he even stayed below 88%, once even below 70%. These are not the kind of numbers that win you the Cup, although his front men are of course also challenged in this respect.
It has to go through the defence
The Panthers have conceded a total of 17 goals in four games so far, which equates to a goal-against average of 4.25. They will have to reduce this significantly if they are to win the Cup. They need to lower that significantly to still have a chance. We expect them to do so because of the do-or-die nature of the game, but whether it will be enough to win is questionable.
Of all things, their best forward Matthew Tkachuk is also injured. Thus, in Vegas vs. Florida, a tip on the Knights as well as on subpar points is possible. We would even get the biggest Vale with a combination of these two bets.
Key Players:
- G: Sergei Bobrovsky
- D: Gustav Forsling
- D: Radko Gudas
- LW: Carter Verhaeghe
- C: Aleksander Barkov
- RW: Sam Reinhart
Vegas Golden Knights – Florida Panthers Direct comparison / H2H-balance
3:1 and numbers speak louder than words. In the end, the Golden Knights’ greater experience with finals games of this nature will likely prevail. The Panthers will have to trust that they’ll get into this situation again in the next few years and have the advantage then.
Now in Vegas, it’s definitely going to be tough. In seven previous duels between these two franchises in the gamer’s metropolis, Florida has not been able to pick up a single win. Accordingly, the score is 0:7 – another point that speaks against the Panthers.
So for Vegas vs. Florida, the odds on the Knights are much more playable, even if they are slightly lower. We wouldn’t give them a big handicap, though, as the last few games have always been incredibly even and only narrowly decided.
Vegas Golden Knights – Florida Panthers Tip
There is little to be said for the Panthers on Tuesday and that is exactly what makes them so dangerous. Therefore, a bet on Vegas is not our very first betting option for Golden Knights vs. Panthers – even though it seems obvious.
Rather, we bet on few goals, which the last few years have shown time and again in deciding games in which a team could become Stanley Cup champion. In the last three years, just 2.0 goals were scored on average. Under-scoring is therefore our betting option of choice.
Which player will score on Tuesday? With Matthew Tkachuk banged up on the Panthers’ side, our pick here is clearly Jonathan Marchessault. He has scored a whopping five goals in the last five playoff games.
