Florida Panthers vs Edmonton Oilers: Game 1 preview, predictions and odds

The Florida Panthers are rematching the Edmonton Oilers in the Stanley Cup Finals as Florida won the Cup in Game 7 last season.

Game 1 is set in Edmonton on June 4 at 8 p.m. ET.

Panthers vs Oilers: Head-to-head & key stats

Florida went 2-0 against Edmonton this season
The Panthers averaged 3 goals per game this season
The Oilers went 25-13-3 at home
Florida went 20-19-2 on the road
Edmonton allowed 2.86 goals per game
The Panthers allowed 2.71 goals per game
The Oilers averaged 3.15 goals per game

Florida Panthers vs Edmonton Oilers: Preview

Florida defeated the Carolina Hurricanes in five games to advance to the Cup Final for the third-straight year. In the playoffs, the Panthers are led by Aleksander Barkov has 17 points, Sam Bennett and Matthew Tkachuk have 16 points, while Brad Marchand and Carter Verhaeghe have 14 points.

The Panthers will start Sergei Bobrovsky, who went 33-19-2 with a 2.44 GAA and a .906 SV%. In his career against Edmonton, he’s 13-6 with a 2.85 GAA and a .900 SV%. In the playoffs, Bobrovsky is 12-5 with a 2.11 GAA and a .912 SV%.

Edmonton, meanwhile, is coming off beating Dallas in five games to advance to the Cup Final. After going down 0-2 in their first-round series, Edmonton has since gone 12-2. The Oilers are led by Connor McDavid who has 26 points, Leon Draisaitl has 25 points, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has 18 points, and Evan Bouchard has 17 points.

The Oilers will start Stuart Skinner, who has been great since reclaiming the net. He went 26-18-4 with a 2.81 GAA and a .896 SV% this season. In his career against Florida, he’s 2-2 with a 3.81 GAA and a .888 SV%. In the playoffs, Skinner is 6-4 with a 2.53 GAA and a .904 SV%.

Panthers vs Oilers: Odds & Prediction

Florida is a +110 underdog while Edmonton is a -130 favorite, and the over/under is set at 6.5 goals.

The Oilers went down 3-0 in the Cup Final last year, but that likely won’t happen here. Edmonton has home ice in these playoffs, which will benefit the Oilers here.

One of the biggest questions is how Skinner will do in the net. In Game 1, Edmonton should be able to get a couple on Bobrovsky as the Oilers will win Game 1 of the series.

Prediction: Oilers 4, Panthers 2.

Panthers vs Oilers: Betting Tips

Tip 1: Edmonton ML (-130)

Tip 2: Under 6.5 goals (-125)

About the author

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alt=”Cole Shelton” height=”72″ width=”72″>

Cole is an NHL, NFL and College Sports reporter at Sportskeeda with over 7 years of experience writing for publications like CBC, USA Today, SMG, BJPENN, Sherdog and SB Nation.

An NHL fan his whole life, Cole played rep hockey in Canada from age 5 until 17 and grew up rooting for Martin St. Louis and the Tampa Bay Lightning. His all-time favorite players are Vincent Lecavalier and Steven Stamkos, while Jon Cooper is his favorite coach of all time.

Cole attended Sheridan College and received his journalism degree in 2019. After decades of watching and reporting, he considers his knowledge of sports as his primary strength. He ensures that the same story has been reported by at least two reputed reporters before creating it.

Cole enjoys playing golf and spending time with friends and family when not reporting breaking stories. His favorite sports moment is from the 2010 Olympics, when Sidney Crosby scored the golden goal in overtime to beat Team USA for the gold medal.

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