Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Florida Panthers Game 3 Prediction, NHL Playoff Odds
While it shouldn’t be shocking to see the higher seed win the first two games of a playoff series, it’s still surprising to see the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers trail 2-0 in this series after a 4-3 loss in Toronto on Wednesday. Can the Cats strike back at home for Friday’s Game 3, or will the Leafs grab a stranglehold on this second-round series?
Florida opened as a -235 favourite to win on the NHL odds, with the total pegged at 6.0.
Maple Leafs vs. Panthers NHL Betting Odds
Toronto has claimed back-to-back victories against the Panthers after losing four of the previous five head-to-heads. Almost unbelievably, this is the first time the Leafs have held a 2-0 lead in two best-of-seven series’ during the same playoff run since 1963. Keep in mind, Florida has never won a series in which they trailed 2-0 (0-5 all-time).
Toronto enters Game 3 as sizeable -210 favourites to win the series on the NHL futures board, while the Panthers are +170 underdogs. Oddsmakers are all aboard the Leafs bandwagon as the favoured exact series result is now Toronto winning in five games at +333. The biggest long shot is a Florida win in six games at +550.
I think there’s solid value in taking two games of this series to go to overtime, which is priced at a healthy +450, as I still this going six or seven games. Remember, Games 1 and 2 were each decided by a single goal and Toronto is coming off a first-round series that saw them go to overtime three times against Ottawa.
Toronto Maple Leafs
William Nylander, Mitch Marner, Max Domi and Max Pacioretty had the goals for the Leafs in Game 2. It’s was Nylander’s fifth goal in his last three games, only the second time a Leafs player has accomplished that feat in the last 30 years. Willy Styles, who has worn the same brown suit for the last three games, is lighting up the playoffs and is tied with Connor McDavid for second in playoff scoring at 13 points.
Joseph Woll turned aside 25 of 28 shots faced in his first start of this postseason on Wednesday. Woll was starting in place of the injured Anthony Stolarz, who left Game 1 with an undisclosed injury. In five starts (nine appearances) in his NHL playoff career, Woll has been rock solid with a 5-2-0 record while posting a 2.25 goals-against average and .919 save percentage. He’ll likely be the No. 1 guy going forward as Stolarz is expected to miss time with what is thought to be a concussion.
Florida Panthers
Game 2 is a bitter pill to swallow for the Panthers, who likely deserved a better fate after outshooting Toronto in all three periods. Aleksander Barkov, Brad Marchand and Anton Lundell had the goals for the Cats, while Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 16 of 20 shots faced. The third line of Marchand (1G, 6A), Lundell (3G, 5A) and Eetu Luostarinen (2G, 6A) has been hugely impactful. The trio is not only providing depth scoring, they’re actually the top three leading playoff scorers on the team.
Bobrovsky has been far from at his best in this series as he’s now given up nine goals over two games. For comparison, he only allowed 11 total goals in Florida’s first-round series against Tampa Bay. The 36-year-old has a 3.67 GAA and .850 SV over his last five starts, which simply isn’t good enough in the playoffs.
TOR
FLA