The Vegas Golden Knights (3-2-0) take on the Florida Panthers (3-2-1) Saturday. Puck drop from Amerant Bank Arena is set for 6 p.m. ET (ESPN+). Let’s analyze BetMGM Sportsbook’s NHL odds around the Golden Knights vs. Panthers odds and make our expert NHL picks and predictions.
Season series: First meeting; Florida won 2-0 last year
VGK has dropped 2 straight after falling in Tampa 4-3 Thursday. C Ivan Barbashev scored his 4th goal of the season in the defeat. C Jack Eichel had 2 assists as well, which gives him 10 points on the young season. The Knights are 0-2 on the road thus far and 3-0 at home.
The Cats fell 3-2 in OT to Vancouver Thursday for their 1st home loss of the campaign. The Panthers are without Selke Trophy-winning C Aleksander Barkov (lower body) and LW Matthew Tkachuk (illness). Barkov is out 2-3 weeks, and Tkachuk is expected to be out all week.
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Golden Knights at Panthers odds
Provided by BetMGM Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list of NHL odds. Lines last updated at 11:47 a.m. ET.
- Moneyline (ML): Golden Knights +100 (bet $100 to win $100) | Panthers -120 (bet $120 to win $100)
- Puck line (PL)/Against the spread (ATS): Golden Knights +1.5 (-250) | Panthers -1.5 (+200)
- Over/Under (O/U): 6 (O: -105 | U: -115)
Golden Knights at Panthers projected goalies
Ilya Samsonov (1-0-0, 1.00 GAA, .957 SV%) vs. Sergei Bobrovsky (2-1-1, 2.99 GAA, .898 SV%)
Some places expect Adin Hill to go here, but he took defeats Tuesday and Thursday. It makes more sense to rest him here for Tuesday against the LA Kings. Samsonov was great in his season debut Sunday, stopping 22 of 23 shots in a 3-1 victory over the Anaheim Ducks. He was solid against the Panthers in 2 starts last year, going 1-1-0 with a 3.06 GAA and .887 SV% with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Bob has been solid but not spectacular thus far, allowing 2, 3, 3 and 4 goals in his 4 starts. He allowed 3 goals on 33 shots against the Canucks last time out in an OTL. He was 2-0-0 with a 1.50 GAA and .942 SV% against VGK last season.
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Golden Knights at Panthers picks and predictions
Prediction
Golden Knights 4, Panthers 3
Moneyline
Bob will keep the Cats in this one, but they’re missing too much star power with Barkov and Tkachuk out. VGK is a huge, physical team, and the addition of D Noah Hanifan at last year’s deadline made them even deadlier. Eichel is playing at an MVP level, and the GOLDEN KNIGHTS (+100) take this one.
Puck line/Against the spread
Skip the puck line here. Barkov is one of the best defensive forwards in hockey, and his assignment would be Eichel. So Eichel is going to be more free to move offensively. I don’t like his shot total (3.5) because he has 1 SOG in 3 straight games. But he is facilitating with an assist in 4 of 5 games. Take JACK EICHEL OVER 0.5 ASSISTS (-120).
Over/Under
At full strength, I would take the Under here. With Barkov and Tkachuk out, and Bobrovsky not quite on his A-game, we’re going Over. Vegas is 4-1 O/U this season, and Florida is 4-2.
Take the OVER 6 (-105).
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