- What: NHL Hockey Regular Season Game
- When: October 19, 2024
- Who: Las Vegas Golden Knights vs. Florida Panthers
- Time: 3:00 p.m. PST
- Where: Amerant Bank Arena (Sunrise, FL)
The Florida Panthers host the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday at Amerant Bank Arena. It will be a rematch of the 2023 Stanley Cup Final.
Vegas Golden Knights
The Golden Knights have a 3-2-0 record so far this year. They began the season with three straight wins against the Colorado Avalanche, St. Louis Blues, and Anaheim Mighty Ducks but then suffered two road losses. They lost to the Washington Capitals 4-2 and then to the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-3.
The Knights have had a strong offensive start to the year, averaging four goals on 26.4 shots, but they only scored five goals during their two-game skid.
Center Jack Eichel, center Ivan Barbashev, and right wing Mark Stone again form the top line for the Knights. Eichel has had a strong start this year, tallying two goals and eight assists.
Gotta finish the trip strong ????
????: Vegas 34
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????: https://t.co/Wu2Uv8ySyG pic.twitter.com/N2jJScFHgW— Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) October 19, 2024
Right winger Mark Stone has also had an impressive start, notching two goals and seven assists. Center Ivan Barbashev has also contributed, scoring four goals and providing four assists this season.
The Vegas defense started out strong, only conceding an average of 3.2 goals on 24.8 shots per game. However, they allowed four goals in their last two losses.
In this game, Adin Hill should start in goal for the Golden Knights. So far this season, he has a record of 2-2-0, with a goals-against average of 3.81 and a save percentage of .851.
Florida Panthers
The Panthers have a 3-2-1 record this year. They started with a victory against the Boston Bruins, followed by two consecutive wins on the road. In their most recent game, they lost in overtime to the Vancouver Canucks.
Center Sam Reinhart has been a standout player for the Panthers this season, leading the team with nine points. He also tops the team in assists with five and is tied for the team lead in goals with four. Center Anton Lundell has also been a key contributor for Florida, tallying six points and four goals.
Pink in the Rink goes tonight!!#TimeToHunt pic.twitter.com/VXtgFEvEJT
— Florida Panthers (@FlaPanthers) October 19, 2024
The Panthers will be without center Aleksander Barkov, the winner of the Selke Trophy. He is currently dealing with a lower-body injury, which will keep him out of action for 2-3 weeks.
In addition to missing Barkov, left winger Matthew Tkachuk is sidelined due to an illness and will miss the entire week.
In this upcoming game, Sergei Bobrovsky will be the goaltender for the Panthers. Bobrovsky’s current record for the year stands at 2-1-1 with a 2.99 goals-against average and a .898 save percentage.
In his recent game against the Canucks, he made 30 saves out of 33 shots but suffered a loss in overtime.
Knights-Panthers Best Bet
This game would be much more interesting if the Panthers were fully healthy. The Panthers swept the season series 2-0 last year. Even though the Panthers are not at full strength in this matchup, they are catching the Knights at the right time.
This will be the third straight road game for the Knights. Losing a heartbreaker on a last-second goal to the Lightning last game may be tough to recover from.
Although the Panthers seem like the obvious side to back in this one, the total intrigues me even more. Oddsmakers have placed a low total of 5.5 goals in the marketplace. While Bobrovsky is a tremendous goalie, that total is way too low.
Over 5.5 goals is the best bet in this one.
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Tony Reyes is a sports betting analyst and reporter for Dice City Sports. You can follow him on X @TonyParlay.
