Bruins vs. Panthers Game 2 Prediction: Stanley Cup Playoff Odds
The Boston Bruins improved to 5-0 this season against the Florida Panthers with their Game 1 upset victory in the Eastern Conference semifinals, but Florida is a -170 home favourite on the NHL odds for Game 2 on Wednesday to even the best-of-7 series.
Bruins vs. Panthers NHL Betting Odds
There were 192 days in the 2023-24 NHL regular season and either Boston (159) or Florida (28) held first place in the Atlantic Division for 187 of those days. The Panthers stole the division title in their regular-season finale and thus home ice-advantage in the series, but that’s already gone with the 5-1 loss in Game 1.
The Bruins were 4-0 vs. the Panthers this regular season and are the second team in the last decade to play multiple best-of-7 playoff series in a single postseason against a team they were undefeated against in the regular season (minimum three games) as Boston was also unbeaten this regular season against Toronto before taking seven games to oust the Maple Leafs in Round 1. The only other team in this scenario over the past 10 years was Tampa Bay in 2014-15 (5-0 vs. Montreal and 3-0 vs. the NY Rangers).
During the 2023 first-round series between these two, won by Florida in an upset, the road team won five out of seven games, with the only home victories coming in Game 1 (Boston) and in Game 6 (Florida).
On the updated series line, Boston is a -125 favourite (was +145) with Florida +105 (was -175). The favoured exact result is now Bruins in six at +400. Them sweeping is a +800 long shot along with Panthers in five. The over-under for total games in the series is 5.5 with the over a -250 favourite.
Boston Bruins
The big decision that Bruins coach Jim Montgomery made in Round 1 vs. Toronto was to do away with his goalie rotation of Jeremy Swayman and Linus Ullmark after Ullmark lost Game 2. Both were great during the regular season, but Swayman is clearly the guy now as he has started every game since and was spectacular in the 5-1 win in Game 1 against Florida on Monday with 38 saves. Swayman has become the eighth goaltender in NHL history to allow two or fewer goals in each of his first seven starts of a single postseason. It last happened in 2007 with Jean-Sebastian Giguere of Anaheim. The Bruins have allowed three goals or fewer in each of their first eight games of a postseason for the third time in franchise history.
There were five different goal-scorers in Game 1 led by blueliners Brandon Carlo and Mason Lohrei. The former was in question for the game because his wife gave birth early Monday, but Carlo made it in time and scored at 19:39 of the second for a back-breaking 3-1 lead. The rookie Lohrei’s first goal of these playoffs proved the winner at 16:17 of the second. He became only the fourth rookie defenceman to score a game-winning goal for Boston in the postseason all-time. The Bruins are 7-2 in their past nine on the road.
Florida Panthers
I did think Florida might be a bit rusty in Game 1 having not played for a week, but that the Panthers would pull it out eventually against a potentially tired Bruins team. The Panthers did jump out to a 1-0 lead on Matthew Tkachuk’s fourth goal of these playoffs at 11:45 of the second, but then Sergei Bobrovsky essentially fell apart in net with the Cats down 3-1 by the end of the second. Tkachuk has set a franchise record with a six-game playoff-opening point streak and became the seventh U.S.-born player in the past 20 years to record a postseason-opening point streak of at least six games. Toronto’s Auston Matthews had done it most recently in 2023.
The Panthers led 66-46 in shot attempts at 5-on-5 in Game 1 and won 58.7 per cent of their faceoffs, but Boston led in blocked shots 26-11. Florida was 2-for-2 on the penalty kill but 0-for-3 on the power play. Now that the rust is off, I expect a much better effort in Game 2. Florida is 8-1 in its past nine at home.
BOS
FLA