NHL Playoffs Series Odds: Florida Panthers vs. New York Islanders

Payton Matthews
Last Updated: July 16, 2020

Neither the Florida Panthers nor the New York Islanders would have made the Stanley Cup playoffs in a typical year, but 2020 has been anything but typical. The Islanders, seeded seventh in the Eastern Conference, take on the No. 10 Panthers in a best-of-5 qualifying series. Florida is a slight -120 favourite with New York at -116 on the NHL odds. The Isles won all three regular-season meetings.

Florida Panthers Odds

Florida was 35-26-8 in the regular season, good for 78 points. The Panthers did win their final two games before the shutdown and finished with a goal differential of plus-3. It’s the first playoff appearance for the franchise since 2016 – first-year coach Joel Quenneville won three Stanley Cups while in charge of the Chicago Blackhawks.

The Panthers ranked sixth in the NHL in scoring at 3.30 goals per game. Quebec native Jonathan Huberdeau leads the club with 78 points. Former Ottawa Senator Mike Hoffman is first in goals on the team with 29. Defensively, Florida ranked 28^th in allowing 3.25 goals per game. That number is a bit surprising because the Panthers landed big-ticket free-agent netminder Sergei Bobrovsky in free agency last summer. His 3.23 GAA and .900 save per centage are not the norms for the former Vezina Trophy winner. Florida is +2200 on the NHL odds board to win the East and +4000 to win the Cup. The favoured series result is Panthers in five games at +275.

New York Islanders Odds

The Islanders sat ninth in the Eastern Conference with 80 points (35-23-10) but had played two fewer games than both No. 8 Columbus and No. 7 Toronto, so on points percentage that’s why the Isles moved up. New York had lost its final seven games before things were stopped. Centre J.G. Pageau was acquired at the trade deadline from Ottawa. He has two goals in seven games with his new club.

New York averages 2.78 goals per game, which is 22^nd in the league. It allows 2.79, which is ninth. Semyon Varlamov has a 2.62 GAA, .914 SV and two shutouts. Two Islanders who were out injured when the league went on hiatus, Johnny Boychuk and Casey Cizikas, should be good to go when/if the playoffs begin. New York is +2200 to win the East and +5000 on the Stanley Cup odds. The long shot series result is Islanders in a three-game sweep at +651.