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Stanley Cup Final betting preview: Game 1 and series odds

By Griffin Carroll | Last updated 5/30/23

The 2023 Stanley Cup Final is set. It will be the Florida Panthers out of the Eastern Conference and the Vegas Golden Knights from the Western Conference. Game 1 isn't until Saturday, and we'll be covering this series in more depth as the week progresses. As a primer, we turn to the odds for both the first game, the series, and how you might best prep for the action to come.

Game 1 odds

Vegas has home ice for the series and will thus host Games 1 and 2. The Golden Knights also most recently played Monday, while the Panthers haven't played since last Wednesday. It will be interesting to see how that layoff affects things early on.

Moneyline: Vegas -135 | Florida +115 Total: Over 5.5 (-120) | Under 5.5 (+100) Puckline: Vegas -1.5 (+195) | Florida +1.5 (-230)

Florida and Vegas met twice this season, splitting the results. Vegas won at home 4-2 in January and Florida won as the host in March, 2-1. Dating back to 2017, the Golden Knights hold a 6-4 edge over the Panthers, winning every home game.

Vegas is 6-3 at home this postseason and Florida is 8-1 on the road. The Panthers have won seven straight away from home, allowing two or fewer goals in five straight as the visitors.

Both the Golden Knights and Panthers are 2-1 in Game 1s this postseason, winning each of the past two rounds opening games.

Game 1, and likely this series, hinges on whether or not Florida goalie Sergei Bobrovsky can maintain the momentum he's built over the past two rounds. Bobrovsky has been a force in net, but the nine-day layoff between games is potential reason for concern out the gates.

To begin the series, we do understand the price on Vegas and would lean there if you'd like a bet on the winner Saturday night.

Series odds

As one might imagine from the Game 1 prices, it's Vegas who is favored to hoist the Stanley Cup this June. The odds aren't too far apart, and we hopefully should be in for a competitive Final.

Series winner: Vegas -130 | Florida +110

Series total games:

4 games (+600)
5 games (+275)
6 games (+205)
7 games (+200)

With no disrespect to Vegas' Adin Hill, Bobrovsky is the better goalie right now, and as long as that success continues here, one has to prefer the price on Florida to win it all.

The Panthers have been fighting for their postseason life since March, clawing their way into the final Wild Card spot out of the East. They then proceeded to take down the best regular-season team in NHL history and have dropped just one game in the past two rounds.

Matthew Tkachuk tallied three game-winning goals in four games last round, and Florida is living up to promise they showed last season when they won the Presidents' Trophy for top regular-season team. We feel a team of destiny type of energy emanating from Florida, and it's there we'll place our wager ahead of this series.

Betting: Florida to win series (+110)

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