The Boston Bruins face the Florida Panthers in Game 1 of a best-of-7 Eastern Conference 2nd-round series on Monday. Puck drop from Amerant Bank Arena is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET (ESPN). Below, we analyze BetMGM Sportsbook’s'lines around the Bruins vs. Panthers odds, and make our expert NHL picks and predictions.
Boston snapped a 2-game losing streak with a 2-1 overtime win in Game 7 over Toronto to win its 1st-round series 4-3 and cover as a -131 home favorite. RW David'Pastrnak'scored the game-winning goal less than 2 minutes into OT as the Bruins avoided a series loss after being up 3-1.
Florida cruised through the 1st-round, taking down the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-1. It finished the series with a 6-1 victory on Monday as a -176 home favorite. C Aleksander Barkov'and C'Carter Verhaeghe'each scored 2 goals with an assist in the dominant victory.
Boston won all 4 regular-season meetings, 3 by 1 goal, and only 1 game had' more than 5 goals totals (7).