Boston Bruins vs Florida Panthers Prediction, Preview and Odds - 04/21/2023

Game Time: 7:30 pm ET, Friday, April 21, 2023

Venue:  FLA Live Arena, Sunrise, FL

Where to Watch:  TNT

DraftKings:  Moneyline:  Bruins -155, Panthers +135; Over/Under:  6 goals

Bet365:  Moneyline:  Bruins -155, Panthers +135; Over/Under:  6 goals

BetMGM:  Moneyline:  Bruins -160, Panthers +135; Over/Under:  6 goals

Boston Bruins:  65-12-5 (1st place, Atlantic Division)

Florida Panthers:  42-32-8 (4th place, Atlantic Division)

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Boston Bruins:  9-1-0 last 10

Florida Panthers:  7-2-1 last 10

The Bruins are entering this game finishing the regular season with 135 points, a 65-12-5 record overall, and they were 31-8-2 in their road games this regular season where they will be in this game. They are entering this game off of a loss against the Florida Panthers in their last game, losing that one at home 6-3. Tyler Bertuzzi, Brad Marchand, and Taylor Hall each had 1 goal in that game. Nick Foligno, Derek Forbort, Tomáš Nosek, Dmitry Orlov, and Pavel Zacha each led the team in assists with 1 while Pavel Zacha led the team in shots on net in that game with 5. Linus Ullmark was the starting goalie in that game and he allowed 5 goals on 29 shots with 24 saves and a .828 sv percentage. Their offense has scored 305 goals this season averaging 3.7 goals per game and their defense has allowed their opponents to score 177 goals against them allowing 2.2 goals per game.

The Panthers are entering this game finishing the regular season with 92 points, a 42-32-8 record overall, and they were 23-13-5 in their home games this season where they will be in this game. They are entering this game off of a win against the Boston Bruins in their last game, winning that one on the road 6-3. Brandon Montour scored 2 goals while Sam Bennett, Eetu Luostarinen, Eric Staal, and Carter Verhaeghe each had 1 goal in that game. Nick Cousins and Matthew Tkachuk each led the team in assists with 2 while Sam Bennett led the team in shots on net in that game with 7. Alex Lyon was the starting goalie in that game and he allowed 3 goals on 37 shots with 34 saves and a .919 sv percentage. Their offense has scored 266 goals this season averaging 3.2 goals per game and their defense has allowed their opponents to score 213 goals against them allowing 2.6 goals per game.

The current betting odds have the Bruins listed as a favorite in this game according to Draftkings Sportsbook. This is game 3 of a 7-game series between the Panthers and the Bruins for the 1st round of the NHL Eastern Conference playoffs. This series is all tied up 1-1 going into Florida as the Bruins took game 1 of the series but the Panthers came storming back in game 2 with a big 6-3 road win. The Bruins were stunned in that game on home ice but they are still the best team in the NHL as they broke the regular season wins record and they were a really good road team all year. They are not going to let 1 bad game get to them and they will use it to propel themselves forward in this game. They are going to be angry about the score of that 2nd game too so they will be coming with revenge on their mind and will have a lot of motivation to bounce back with a win. It is important that they don't go down 2-1 here and this Panthers defense hasn't been great all year. Even in their win, the Panthers still gave up 3 goals and that is going to be a problem against this good defensive Bruins team as they are not going to give up many goals or scoring chances to the Panthers. The Bruins will bounce back with a much better performance here and take a series lead once again. The best way to place a bet here is on the Bruins to win this game.

Bruins Panthers Prediction:  Our NHL Pick for Friday, April 21, 2023 (7:30 pm ET start time) is Bruins 4 Panthers 2.

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Boston Bruins: 66-18 (+30.3 units) on the moneyline in all games. 19-4 (+13 units) on the moneyline revenging a loss versus opponent. 8-2 OVER revenging a home blowout loss vs opponent of 3 goals or more. 35-21 OVER revenging a same season loss vs opponent.

Florida Panthers: 43-41 (-14.6 units) on the moneyline in all games. 23-24 (-11.4 units) on the moneyline after one or more consecutive overs. 27-18 OVER after one or more consecutive overs. 28-11 OVER after playing a road game.

Boston Bruins:  P. Bergeron (C) Ques Fri - Upper Body.

Florida Panthers:  S. Knight (G) Out indefinitely - Personal. P. Hornqvist (RW) out for season - Concussion.

“The No. 1 lesson you learn is how hard it is to win in the playoffs. For a team that’s been really good in the third period for a long time, it’s an opportunity for us to learn from that.” - Jim Montgomery after his team’s loss against the Panthers in their game on Wednesday, game 2 of this series. 

“You can’t get too far behind anybody. Certainly not a team like the Boston Bruins, the season they’ve had. We’d be more than happy to play seven of them, grind it out. Play as long as we can for as hard as we can.” - Paul Maurice after his team’s win against the Bruins in their game on Wednesday, game 2 of this series. 

LW Marchand, Brad

C Zacha, Pavel

RW DeBrusk, Jake

LD Orlov, Dmitry

RD McAvoy, Charlie

G Ullmark, Linus

LW Verhaeghe, Carter

C Barkov, Aleksander

RW Duclair, Anthony

LD Forsling, Gustav

RD Ekblad, Aaron

G Lyon, Alex

Points: D. Pastrnak (113)

Goals: D. Pastrnak (61)

Assists: D. Pastrnak (52)

GAA: L. Ullmark (1.89)

Points: M. Tkachuk (109)

Goals: C. Verhaeghe (42)

Assists: M. Tkachuk (69)

GAA: A. Lyon (2.89)

Coaches:

Boston Bruins: Jim Montgomery (1st season)

Florida Panthers: Paul Maurice (1st season)