Game 1 of Stanley Cup Final: Edmonton Oilers at Florida Panthers (8 p.m. ET; CBC, TVAS, SN, ESPN+, ABC)
EDM puckline (+1.5 goals): -225
FLA puckline (-1.5 goals): +175
Game 1 of the 2024 Stanley Cup Final will be played at Amerant Bank Arena; the Panthers are 6-3 at home this postseason with two of those victories coming by five-goal margins. Florida won both games in the regular-season series, outscoring Edmonton 10-4. Five of the six games in the Eastern Conference Final between the Panthers and New York Rangers were decided by one goal, while the Oilers have won three straight games and outscored the Dallas Stars 10-4 in that span.
Edmonton has the best power-play percentage (37.3) and penalty kill percentage (93.9) this postseason; Florida ranks second in penalty kill percentage (88.2). In terms of goalie save percentage, Sergei Bobrovsky (.908 in 17 games) of the Panthers has been better so far this postseason compared to Stuart Skinner (.897 in 16 games) of the Oilers, who turned to backup Calvin Pickard (.915 in three games) during the second round.
The Oilers are led by elite centers Connor McDavid (leads Stanley Cup Playoffs with 31 points in 18 games),Leon Draisaitl (28; second) and defenseman Evan Bouchard (27 points; third); forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is tied for the fourth-most points (20) in the League, and wing Zach Hyman leads the NHL in playoff goals (14 in 18 games).
Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk leads them with 19 points (five goals, 14 assists) in 17 games this postseason but was held to one goal in six games during the series against the Rangers. Center Sam Bennett has 10 points (six goals, four assists), four on the power play, in 12 playoff games on a line with mostly Tkachuk. Forward Carter Verhaeghe leads Florida in playoff goals (nine; one ahead of Sam Reinhart's eight) and had five points (three goals, two assists) in two regular-season games against Edmonton.
