After falling to the Las Vegas Golden Knights last year in the Stanley Cup Finals, the Florida Panthers are one game away from sealing their first-ever NHL Championship after taking a 3-0 lead over the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday.
The Panthers have dominated the series, winning the first three games by seven total goals. Center Evan Rodrigues has accounted for three of his team’s 11 goals in this series while adding an assist in Game 3.
Can the Oilers pull off the improbably to become the fifth team in NHL history to win a series while trailing 3-0? We’ll cover that and our three best Stanley Cup Final player prop bets for Flordia versus Edmonton in Saturday’s Game 4 preview.
Florida can thank their postseason run to excellent defensemen as well as goalie Sergei Bobrovsky. While the 35-year-old consistently ranks among the NHL’s best, Bobrovsky finished the regular season with the third-best record and the third-best goals-against margin in 2023-2024.
Expect Bobrovsky to continue his dominance tonight. In both Game 1 and Game 3, the foreign-born athlete recorded 32 saves each outing.
With the Stanley Cup Finals on the line, the veteran goalie will be ready for the Oilers’ best effort and easily cover this player prop bet on Saturday.
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Edmonton would not be in the Stanley Cup Finals without center Connor McDavid. The 27-year-old led the league in assists this season with 100 total and finished among the top 35 in goals with 32.
McDavid has furthered his assist total in the NHL Championship series by assisting on three of his team’s four goals thus far. Although McDavid has not scored against the Panthers, the center has taken the most shots of any player on the team with 14.
With their backs against the wall, expect McDavid to come out firing in this Game 4 win-or-go-home matchup against Florida to cover his player prop bet.
The Panthers revived center Sam Bennett’s career. The Calgary Flames traded Bennett to Florida ahead of the 2021 NHL trade deadline, and the former first-round draft selection has never looked back.
Since joining the team, Bennett has scored in nearly 70 percent of his team’s regular season games. This year’s playoffs have been even more prolific for the center. Bennett has scored in eight of his past 10 games, dating back to the first game of the Eastern Conference Finals.
Expect Bennett to keep his impressive six-game scoring streak alive Saturday night as his team attempts to close out the Stanley Cup Finals.
The Panthers seem to be a team of destiny. Florida was routed last year by the Golden Knights, and the team returned with a furious defense that was impressive through their Eastern Conference run.
Expect Florida to win this Game 4 by two goals and sweep the Oilers on their ice Saturday night. The Panthers will hoist the Stanley Cup!