Two teams squaring off for the first time this season, the Vancouver Canucks and the Florida Panthers face off at the BB&T Center in an East-West showdown. The opening face-off is at 7 p.m. ET on Saturday, October 13, and you can catch it live on Fox SportsNet Florida.
Vancouver Canucks vs. Florida Panthers Odds
With a -200 moneyline, Florida comes into the game as the heavy favorite. The line for Vancouver sits at +170, and the oddsmakers have set the Over/Under (O/U) at 7 goals. The odds for betting the total stand at -105 for the over and -115 for the under.
Vancouver is 2-2 straight up (SU) and has earned moneyline bettors 1.6 units this year. That winning percentage, the second-best in the Pacific Division so far this season, isn’t too far off from to the 31-51 record the team managed during last year’s regular season campaign. This 2018-19 Canucks team is 1-2 SU on the road.
The Canucks have scored on 26.7 percent of their power play opportunities so far. That’s a noticeable improvement from last season, when they were ranked eighth in the league by converting on 21.5 percent of their extra-man chances. Their penalty kill has also gotten stronger, as they’ve gone from successfully defending 78.6 percent of opponents’ power plays (ranked 21st overall last season) to 85.0 percent this year.
The Nucks, as a collective unit, have been sent to the penalty box 5.5 times per game in the 2018-19 season, a number that’s jumped noticeably from last year’s 3.7 penalties per game. After serving an average of 8.7 penalty minutes per game a season ago the team’s had to stave off opponent power plays for a noteworthy 11.8 minutes per matchup this year.
Sporting a .883 save percentage and 30.3 saves per game, Jacob Markstrom (1-2) has been the primary option in goal for Vancouver this year. If it chooses to give him a rest, however, head coach Travis Green might turn to Anders Nilsson (1-0), who has a .971 save percentage and 1.00 goals against average this year.
Elias Pettersson and Alexander Edler will both lead the way for the visiting Canucks. Pettersson has seven points on four goals and three assists this season; Edler has zero goal and four assists to his name through the early phase of the regular season.
On the other side of the ice, Florida is 0-2 straight up (SU) and has lost 2.4 units for moneyline bettors this year. Through two regular season outings, one of its games has gone over the total, while another one has gone under and none have pushed.
The Panthers have killed off a remarkable 66.7 percent of all penalties, a few points off from the 80.3 percent they recorded a year ago (when they were ranked 15th overall). They have scored on 0.0 percent of their power plays this year after converting on 18.9 percent (ranked 21st in league) last season.
Panthers players have been called for penalties 3.0 times per game this season. Last year, that number was at 4.1, the sixth-highest mark in the league. After serving an average of 11.0 penalty minutes per game a year ago, the team’s had to stave off opponent power plays for only 6.0 minutes per outing this season.
The winless James Reimer (21.0 saves per game) has been the top selection in goal for the Panthers. Reimer has zero wins, two losses, and one OT loss to his name and has recorded a pedestrian 3.97 goals against average and a subpar .875 save percentage this season.
Vancouver Canucks vs. Florida Panthers Betting Predictions
Prediction: SU Winner – Panthers, O/U – Over
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Notes
Betting Trends
The Panthers are 0-1 SU in games where they serve more penalty minutes than their opponent while the Canucks are 2-0 SU when they serve more minutes than the opposition.
Vancouver went 0-5 in shootouts last season while Florida was 3-3 in games that went to a shootout.
The total has gone over in three of Vancouver’s last five games.
Florida’s skaters registered 9.1 takeaways per game and allowed 13.1 giveaways per contest.
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