The NHL playoffs get two looks on Monday night. First, the Florida Panthers look to go up 3-1 at home over the Tampa Bay Lightning in the battle for Florida, then the Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars play a tiebreaking matchup in Texas.
Here’s a look at picks from our NHL staff, the odds and viewing info for the two games set for Monday.
Viewing guide for Monday
GameTime (ET)TVStream
Lightning at Panthers
7 p.m.
ESPN
Avalanche at Stars
9:30 p.m.
ESPN
Watching in person? Get tickets on StubHub.
Tampa Bay Lightning at Florida Panthers Game 4
Panthers lead series 2-1
Series odds: Panthers -275, Lightning +220
Apparently, home ice isn’t an advantage in the Battle of Florida. The Lightning struck back in Sunrise, with their first win of the series on Saturday afternoon.
Matthew Tkachuk opened the scoring 2:43 into play, but the Lightning responded before the first frame ended with a goal from Brayden Point. Jake Guentzel continued to give Tampa Bay a spark with a three-point game. Nikita Kucherov managed to create more space for himself, despite going up against the Panthers’ best shutdown players. And on the other side of the matchup game, Ryan McDonagh helped contain Florida’s top line.
Discipline and physical play became the story for the second consecutive game when Tkachuk was assessed an interference major in the third period. Unlike Brandon Hagel, who took a similar penalty in Game 2, he will not serve a one-game suspension. So expect tensions to run even higher in Game 4, as both sides continue to “only hit the [players] that have pucks.”
Expert picks
Colorado Avalanche at Dallas Stars Game 5
Series tied 2-2
Series odds: Avalanche -160, Stars +135
The Avalanche generated offense in waves in Game 4, in all situations. It was the best version of the Avs this postseason, and the worst version of the Stars.
Logan O’Connor’s second short-handed goal of the postseason opened the scoring. Late in the first period, Nathan MacKinnon’s power-play goal made it 2-0.
But the goal of the night belongs to Gabriel Landeskog, who scored for the first time since June 20, 2022. He was a standout on a new-look second line, with Brock Nelson and Valeri Nichushkin, that controlled play in their minutes. With the second line thriving, the Avalanche reached almost 80 percent of the expected goal share at five-on-five.
The Stars were so busy playing defense that they struggled to generate offense at even strength. Dallas didn’t create much from the middle of the ice and couldn’t keep the Avalanche out of the high-danger areas. Despite Jake Oettinger giving his team a chance, he got the hook in the third period to rest up for Game 5.
Expert picks
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(Photo of Matthew Tkachuk and Victor Hedman: Mike Carlson / Getty Images)