Odds and Bets: Panthers and Tkachuk Roar Back in Game 2

Panthers vs Golden Knights Game 2: Tkachuk Gets Going

With a 5-2 win for Vegas, for the first time since the first round of the playoffs, a team finally got to Sergei Bobrovsky. The Panthers goalkeeper was by no means bad, but he also wasn’t his typical gobsmacking self. He hadn’t given up four goals since Game 6 versus Boston, which was in April, believe it or not.  It was also the first time in a while that team leader in points Matthew Tkachuk didn’t play a big role. He was held scoreless with only two shots on goal and finished with a -1 on the night.

If Florida wants to have any chance of winning this series and the franchise’s first Stanley Cup, they’ll need their best players to be their best players. A tired expression, yes, but à propos under the present circumstances. Twice in this postseason Vegas has failed to claim a 2-0 series lead despite having Games 1 and 2 at home. Both Winnipeg and Edmonton nipped them for wins early on to head home tied 1-1, so it can be done.

Best Bet: Matthew Tkachuk over 1.5 points

Panthers vs Golden Knights Game 2: Panthers Claw Back

Given that Game 2 of the Stanley Cup final is THE show on sports television tonight, we’ll stick with it for one more bet. As previously mentioned, the Vegas Golden Knights are not invincible at home. They lost once to the Jets, once to the Oilers, and once to the Stars. For that matter, the Florida Panthers have been road warriors throughout the postseason, sporting a shiny 8-2 win-loss record.

To top it off, they didn’t play badly at all in Game 1. They outshot the Golden Knights, took the lead on a nifty shorthanded goal in the first period, and out-hit their opponents as well. They did a lot of the things a team needs to win a game. It simply didn’t go their way on Saturday. If they stick to their game, they can certainly tie this series up before it shifts to Florida.

Best Bet: Florida Panthers on the moneyline

Houston Astros vs Toronto Blue Jays: Big Moment for Alek Manoah

Another big test comes along for the Toronto Blue Jays. Since the apparent doom and gloom felt about the team a couple of weeks back, they’ve gone on to put in respectable efforts, albeit against clubs that, at the start of the season, most would have predicted they should defeat anyways. Still, such is the current plight of the Blue Jays.

Toronto took two of three from Minnesota, then the same effort came against Milwaukee, and they left New York on Sunday night after sweeping the Mets. That’s 7-2 in nine games. Not bad at all. Now the defending champion Houston Astros come to town and who should be on the mound for the Jays but Alek Manoah? We gave him the benefit of the doubt in an Odds and Bets last week and it happened to be for one of the only two defeats Toronto recently suffered…So what to do? More benefit of the doubt and the Astros crush him or play it safe and maybe Jays fans are pleasantly surprised tonight?

Best Bet: Take the over 9.0