Florida Panthers at Carolina Hurricanes Game 1 odds, picks, prediction

The Florida Panthers and Carolina Hurricanesmeet in Game 1 of a best-of-7 Eastern Conference Finals series Thursday. Puck drop from PNC Arena in Raleigh, N.C., is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET (TNT). Below, we analyze BetMGM Sportsbook’s lines around the Panthers vs. Hurricanes odds, and make our expert NHL picks and predictions.

The Hurricanes won 2 of the 3 regular-season meetings against the Panthers, including a 6-4 victory in the season finale on April 13 as the Over (6) cashed. Carolina also won the only meeting in Raleigh on Dec. 30 by a 4-0 score, while Florida won the first battle in Sunrise on Nov. 9 by a 3-0 count.

Florida upended the President’s Trophy-winning Boston Bruins in the first round by 7 games and ousted the Toronto Maple Leafs in 5 games in the second round. The Panthers are 8-4 as underdogs in 12 postseason games and have cashed the Under in the past 5 outings.

Carolina is 4-1 as a favorite in 5 games in the playoffs, while winning 5 of the past 6 contests overall. The Over is 4-1 in the past 5 outings, and 7-2-1 in the past 10 games.

Panthers at Hurricanes odds

BetMGM Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at  7:47 a.m. ET.

Stream the NHL all season on ESPN+, with your team’s out-of-market games, exclusive games, originals and more. Get ESPN+ now!

Panthers at Hurricanes projected goalies

Sergei Bobrovsky (24-20-3, 3.07 GAA, .901 SV%, 1 SO – regular season) vs. Frederik Andersen (21-11-1, 2.48 GAA, .903 SV% – regular season)

Bobrovsky didn’t start the first 3 games of the playoffs, but he came on in relief of G Alex Lyon in Game 3 of the Boston series and he hasn’t relinquished the starting job since.

Bob is 7-2-0 with a 2.82 GAA and .918 SV% in the playoffs and has allowed exactly 2 goals in each of the past 5 starts. The 7 postseason wins mark a career-best.

Andersen also didn’t start the postseason as the starting netminder either, as G Antti Raanta was the starter until Game 6 of the New York Islanders series. Andersen started that elimination game on Long Island, and he hasn’t looked back.

Andersen is 5-0-0 with a 1.80 GAA and .931 SV% in 6 starts in the postseason. The one start he left early due to poor performance, Game 3 in New Jersey, rookie G Pyotr Kochetkov was charged with the loss in relief.

Play our free daily Pick’em Challenge and win! Play now!

Panthers at Hurricanes picks and predictions

Prediction

Panthers 3, Hurricanes 2

The PANTHERS (+120) are a solid play at plus money in Game 1. Florida has been red-hot in the postseason, and its confidence is sky-high.

The Hurricanes are 0-8 in the past 8 Conference Finals games as they’ve run out of steam in the past 2 playoff runs after making it to the third round. Until the Canes can turn things around, fade them and play the road team at plus money.

The Panthers +1.5 (-225) will cost you over 2 times your potential return, and that’s just too expensive if you require some insurance and can’t bring yourself to play Florida straight up.

Florida has won 7 of the past 8 games overall while going 12-4 in the past 16 games when playing on 3 or more days of rest. If you like the Panthers, just play them straight up.

PASS.

The UNDER 6 (-120) might be the best play on the board.

The Under has cashed in 5 straight games for the Panthers, with Bobrovsky yielding just 2 goals in each of those outings. The Under is also 4-0 in the past 4 for the Panthers after a straight-up win.

While the Over has dominated for the Hurricanes lately, the Under is 11-5 in the past 16 when playing on 3 or more days of rest. The Under is also 18-6-4 in the past 28 meetings in Raleigh.