The Florida Panthers take on the Edmonton Oilers in Game 2 of this best-of-7 Stanley Cup Final Friday. Puck drop from Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, is set for 8 p.m. ET (TNT / truTV / Max). Let’s analyze BetMGM Sportsbook’s NHL odds around the Panthers vs. Oilers odds and make our expert NHL picks and predictions.

Series record: Oilers lead 1-0

The Panthers succumbed 4-3 in overtime in Game 1 Wednesday. They were up 3-1 two minutes into the second period, but the Oilers wouldn’t go away. The Panthers appeared to wear down later in the game. Is this the sign of a team that has gone to the Stanley Cup Final 3 years in a row finally running out of gas or just a blip in the radar? C Sam Bennett added a few more zeroes to his looming free-agent contract with 2 goals in Game 1. He leads the NHL with 12 goals in the playoffs.

Oilers C Leon Draisaitl said “hold my beverage” and scored 2 of his own — including the game-winner with 31 seconds remaining in the first overtime. What got them to overtime was an adjustment made by C Connor McDavid. “The Great One” Wayne Gretzky said during the second intermission that the Panthers were taking away the middle, and McDavid was going to have to skate behind the net and make something happen. He did exactly that, setting up D Mattias Ekholm for his first goal of the playoffs 6:33 into the third period. McDavid had 2 assists in the game.

McDavid played a whopping 31:12 in the game. That’s something to monitor. Something else of note is each team dished out 51 hits. This is a lot more physical early on than expected, which could favor Florida the longer the series goes.

Panthers at Oilers odds

Provided by BetMGM Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 12:26 p.m. ET.

Moneyline (ML): Panthers -105 (bet $105 to win $100) | Oilers -115 (bet $115 to win $100)Puck line (PL)/Against the spread (ATS): Panthers +1.5 (-250) | Oilers -1.5 (+200)Over/Under (O/U): 6 (O: -120 | U: +100)Panthers at Oilers projected goalies

Sergei Bobrovsky (12-6, 2.17 GAA, .912 SV%, 3 SO in ’24-25 playoffs) vs. Stuart Skinner (7-4, 2.50 GAA, .904 SV%, 3 SO in ’24-25 playoffs)

Bob stopped 42 of the 46 shots fired his way. He stopped 10 of 12 high-danger chances at 5-on-5 and 34 of 37 overall at 5-on-5. The Oilers just wanted, and frankly, needed this game more. Bob has been the best goalie in the playoffs in terms of his 9.2 goals saved above expected.

Skinner stopped 29 of the 32 shots he saw. He only had 5 high-danger chances at 5-on-5, and he stopped 3 of them. He stopped 28 of 30 shots at 5-on-5 overall. The Panthers are going to have to put more pressure on him in order to tip the scales in this series.

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Panthers at Oilers picks and predictionsPrediction

Panthers 5, Oilers 4

I look for the PANTHERS (-105) to even the series. They were outshot 46-32 in Game 1, and they only had 2 shots outside of 5-on-5. One of those was a power-play goal by LW Brad Marchand. Things should get chippy in this one.

I don’t like either side of the PL here. Give me SAM BENNETT OVER 2.5 SHOTS (-160). He has 5 SOG in the last 2 games, and 3+ in 3 of 4. As mentioned, he’s a UFA in the offseason and clearly playing at another level.

The Over is 7-3 in the last 10 meetings between these teams. Edmonton has scored 4+ goals in 4 straight and 3+ in 6 straight. Meanwhile, Florida has scored 5+ in 5 of 7 games. That’s the kind of series we’re going to have.

Give me the OVER 6 (-120).

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