The Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers clash in Game 3 of their Stanley Cup Playoff series Saturday in Sunrise, Florida. The opening puck drop at Amerant Bank Arena will be at 1 p.m. ET (TBS). Let’s analyze BetMGM Sportsbook’s NHL odds around the Lightning vs. Panthers odds and make our expert NHL picks and predictions.
Season series: Florida leads 2-0
Tampa Bay was shut out in Thursday’s Game 2. The Lightning failed to capitalize on 5 power plays and were undone 2-0. Dating back to the regular season, Tampa Bay is just 3-4-3 over its last 10 games.
The Panthers won the opener 6-2 and with the twin wins snapped a 6-game road losing skid they endured at the tail end of the regular season.
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Lightning at Panthers odds
Provided by BetMGM Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 2:30 a.m. ET.
Moneyline: Lightning +115 (bet $100 to win $115) | Panthers -135 (bet $135 to win $100)Puck line (PL)/Against the spread (ATS): Lightning +1.5 (-220) | Panthers -1.5 (+180)Over/Under (O/U): 5.5 (O: -115 | U: -105)Lightning at Panthers projected goalies
Andrei Vasilevskiy (regular season: 38-20-5, 2.18 GAA, .921 SV%, 6 SO) vs. Sergei Bobrovsky (33-19-2, 2.44 GAA, .906 SV%, 5 SO)
Vasilevskiy has started both games of the series. On Thursday, he stopped 21 of 22 pucks. He owns an .821 SV% for the series.
Bobrovsky has also played the first 2 games. He filed a 19-save shutout in Game 2, and he owns a .951 SV% for the series.
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Lightning at Panthers picks and predictionsPrediction
Panthers 4, Lightning 3
Florida is 12-4 across its last 16 games against Tampa Bay (regular and postseason). In 5 of their last 7 wins against the Bolts, the Panthers — not normally a high-scoring club — have scored 4 goals or more.
Figure the Panthers as having more in the tank with respect to 5-on-5 play. Even-strength analytics peg Florida as punching under its recent production. On the power play, Florida is 17-for-its-last-60 (28.3%) .
The PANTHERS (-135) are the value side here.
No interest: PASS.
The Over is 5-3-1 in the last 9 series meetings. Look for some offense push-back as this series hits a third game after a tight Under. The overall series tilt is a bit of a fade lean on the Tampa defense and the Florida offense having more to give.
Consider a partial-unit play on the OVER 5.5 (-115).