The 2023 Stanley Cup Finals have gone to expectation so far. The Vegas Golden Knights were home for the first two games of the series and convincingly won the first two games against the Florida Panthers.
As the saying goes, a series doesn’t truly start until a team wins on the road. With the series shifting to Florida for games 3 and 4, we’ll see if the Panthers can even it up or if the Golden Knights can steal one and take full command of this series.
Betting Trends from First Two Games
The trend of these Finals so far has been lots of goal-scoring. Both overs hit so far and without much sweat, either. As long as these teams continue to score early in games, they should remain back-and-forth affairs with lots of goals scored across the board.
A byproduct of this goal-scoring surplus has been the involvement of non-usual suspects. If you can snag a player to score a goal pregame with some juicy odds, chances are you could have a nice payday with the way this series has gone. In Game 1 Florida’s Eric Staal kicked off the scoring for the series with a shorthanded goal. His odds to score in that game were +5000. That type of value is worth a shot going forward in this series.
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First Period Game 3, Both Teams to Score: Yes +152
So far in this series, there have been six periods. Vegas has scored a goal in all six periods and Florida has scored in three of the six. With Florida at home for Game 3 and Vegas‘s offense on fire, it is very likely both teams will find the back of the net in the first period. Florida truly needs to get off to a strong start in this game and will be pushing for an early goal or two. Vegas will look to keep their scoring momentum going and should be able to pop at least one in during the first period.
Series top goalscorer: Matthew Tkachuk +500
So far Vegas’s Jonathan Marchessault leads the Finals with three goals scored. He’s been on fire in the last couple rounds of the postseason and has carried that over to the Finals.
That being said his team is filled with goal-scoring threats and they like to ‘share the rock.’ With other top talents like Jack Eichel and Mark Stone also at the top of their game right now in addition to other depth pieces scoring goals, it may be hard for Marchessault to maintain his series lead going forward.
Florida’s Matthew Tkachuk, on the other hand, has been the focal point of his team’s offense throughout the entire postseason. He finally got on the board late in Game 2. Tkachuk will undoubtedly take this momentum into the next two games at home. He should add to his tally, making a run at the series lead. When it’s all said and done, his share of his team’s scoring output should allow for him to lead the Stanley Cup Finals in goals scored. Grab this bet while you can before the value drops off.
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Series spread: Florida Panthers +2.5 games -110
After a tough two games on the road, Florida is in a hole and the series odds reflect that. That being said the Panthers are not unfamiliar with these types of deficits, as they found themselves one game away from elimination for half of their first-round series with the Boston Bruins, coming back from down 3-1 to win the series in seven. This is a resilient bunch and while I won’t go as far as to say they will come back to win the entire series. Getting them at even odds to keep the series within 2.5 games is a blessing. This team can absolutely win two games in this series and that’s all they’ll need to cover this series spread. This is probably the smartest series bet still on the board.
There’s a lot still left to transpire in this series. That means there’s still lots of money to be made from your wagers. Enjoy the rest of what should be an exciting Stanley Cup Finals series and good luck with your bets!
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