The Florida Panthers and Edmonton Oilers are set to square off in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final on Saturday night.
This is a highly interesting matchup with a plethora of fascinating angles to consider when it comes to the betting markets.
How will Edmonton's high-powered attack fare against Florida's stout defense? Which goalie will come to play at their highest level?
Here are three player props to consider before the puck drops.
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Edmonton center Connor McDavid Over 3.5 Shots on Goal +106
We're going to keep things as simple as can be with our first offering here.
McDavid has waited nine long years for this moment, and he finally has his Oilers in position to win the Stanley Cup. Do you think for even a second that he's not coming out guns blazing in this game?
We'll hear a lot about how great the combination of Aleksander Barkov, Gustav Forsling, and Aaron Ekblad have been for Florida at limiting the other team's best players, and that may well be a factor as the series goes on.
McDavid has hit this number in 9 of his 18 playoff games so far this season, and last year in the postseason he hit it in 8 of 12.
Over a two year postseason sample, that's a 17-for-30 hit rate on a plus money proposition. Combine that with the motivation factor, and this is a good look despite the tough matchup.
Florida goalie Sergei Bobrovsky Over 24.5 Saves -119
We'll play into some correlation here just a little bit. If McDavid is going to go over his shots, it follows that Bobrovsky has a better chance to go over his save total.
Florida is an elite defensive team that is excellent at suppressing shots, but they haven't faced a team that generates them as well as Edmonton does in this postseason run. They haven't even faced anybody close.
The Oilers led the league in the regular season with 32.87 shots on goal per 60 minutes at 5-on-5. In the playoffs, they faced the Tampa Bay Lightning (23rd, 27.4), Boston Bruins (22nd, 27.42), and New York Rangers (15th, 29.77).
The Florida defense is good enough to fare well in this series, but Edmonton is a better puck possession team and a far more dangerous even-strength offense than the Panthers have faced so far.
Dallas goalie Jake Oettinger just went over this number in 5 of his 6 games against the Oilers, while Vancouver goalie Arturs Silovs went over in 5 of his 7 against Edmonton. This number is a steal.
Florida center Sam Bennett to Record a Point +112
This number doesn't make too much sense to me, and at plus money, I think you have to jump on it.
Bennett missed some of rounds 1 and 2 with an injury, but he's got 10 points in 12 games in this postseason. He's recorded a point in 8 of those 12.
We already know the Barkov line is going to be tasked as much as possible with shutting down McDavid's line, so look for Paul Maurice to do everything he can to get his second line of Bennett, Matthew Tkachuk, and Evan Rodrigues favorable matchups with home ice.
If the Barkov line can't be counted on for offense, it'll have to be the second unit, and Bennett also gets power play time. Tkachuk is Bennett's linemate and is currently sitting at -215 to score a point.
Sure, Tkachuk is the better player, but it's a collaborative line and Bennett has produced at a much higher clip than this line would suggest.
READ MORE: Edmonton Oilers Center, Captain, Legend Connor McDavid Has His Crowning Moment
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