In their first head-to-head meeting of the regular season, the Florida Panthers and the Vancouver Canucks take the ice at Rogers Arena. Sportsnet Pacific will showcase this cross-continent matchup, which gets going at 10 p.m. ET on Monday, October 28.
Florida Panthers at Vancouver Canucks Odds
The Canucks are 6-4 straight up (SU) and have netted 2.8 units for moneyline bettors this season. That winning percentage, ranked 3rd in the Pacific Division in this young season, is a surprising improvement over the 35-47 record from the 2018-19 season campaign. Out of its 10 regular season contests, five of them have gone under the total, while four have gone over and just one has pushed. The team is 3-1 SU at home thus far.
Vancouver has converted on 18.2 percent of its power play chances this season, a figure that’s right around league average. On the other hand, its penalty kill is ranked third overall, and it’s successfully killed off 88.9 percent of all penalties.
Vancouver, as a collective unit, has been called for penalties 4.3 times per game this season, a number that’s swelled some from last year’s 3.5 penalties per game the team surrendered. After serving an average of 8.8 penalty minutes per game a year ago, the team’s had to kill penalties for 9.9 minutes per outing this season.
Averaging 29.4 saves per game with a .920 save percentage, Jacob Markstrom (4-3-1) has been the most dependable goalkeeper for the Canucks this year. If they choose to give him a breather, however, the team could roll with Thatcher Demko (2-1-1 record, .943 save percentage, 1.64 goals against average).
J.T. Miller and Elias Pettersson will both lead the charge for the Canucks. Miller (11 points) has tallied four goals and seven assists and has recorded multiple points on three different occasions this year. Pettersson has three goals and eight assists to his credit and has notched at least one point in six games.
Florida has lost 2.4 units for moneyline bettors this year and is currently 5-6 straight up (SU). Through 11 regular season outings, six of its games have gone over the total, while three have gone under the total and just one has pushed. Florida’s 3-4 SU as the away team this season.
Florida has converted on 18.2 percent of its power play chances this season, a mark that’s right around league average. On the other hand, its penalty kill unit is ranked 11th overall and it’s successfully killed off 83.3 percent of all opponent power plays.
Florida’s players have been penalized only 3.0 times per game this season, a number that’s improved from the 3.4 penalties per game given up a year ago. After serving an average of 8.4 penalty minutes per game a year ago, the team’s had to stave off opponent power plays for 6.7 minutes per matchup this season.
Sergei Bobrovsky (24.0 saves per game) has been the primary option in the net for Florida. Bobrovsky has four wins, five losses, and three overtime losses to his credit, while registering a .874 save percentage and 3.65 goals against average this year.
Aleksander Barkov (zero goals, 13 assists) has been one of the top playmaking threats for the visiting Panthers.
Florida Panthers at Vancouver Canucks Betting Picks
Free NHL Tip: SU Winner – Canucks, O/U – Over
Betting Notes
- For both of these clubs, the total has gone over in three of their past five outings.
- After averaging 33.0 shot attempts as a team last season (the sixth-most in the league), Florida has attempted 34.3 shots per contest overall this season, and 30.6 in its last five road games.
- The Panthers are 2-2 SU when they serve more penalty minutes than their opponent while the Canucks are 3-0 SU in games where they spend more time in the box than their opponent.
- Vancouver is 2-1 in games decided by a shootout this season while Florida is 1-3 in shootouts.
