One night after the Mavericks kept the NBA Finals alive with an emphatic 122-84 victory, the Edmonton Oilers will seek to begin erasing their own 3-0 deficit in the Stanley Cup Final on Saturday. Edmonton is looking to become the second team in NHL history, and first since the Toronto Maple Leafs back in 1942, to go from down 3-0 to Stanley Cup champs.
The Florida Panthers can wrap up the sweep with a win at Rogers Place after winning Game 3 by a final score of 4-3 despite two third-period goals by the Oilers.
Game 4 is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET on Saturday night on ABC.
Despite its commanding 3-0 lead, Florida is a slight underdog at even money, while the Oilers are -120 at ESPN BET. The Over/Under is set at 5.5 (Over — EVEN, Under — -120).
At DraftKings, the Panthers are -2500 to finish the job and raise the trophy, while Edmonton is +1300 to win the Stanley Cup.
Stanley Cup Final Game 4 Betting Analysis
After two low-scoring games in Florida that were dominated by the Panthers and Sergei Bobrovsky, Florida built a 4-1 lead in Game 3. Edmonton made it respectable in the third period with goals from Philip Broberg and Ryan McLeod, but it was too little, too late.
While Florida has controlled this series since it got underway, outscoring Edmonton 11-4 over Games 1, 2 and 3, the Oilers being slight favorites in Game 4 makes sense.
We saw as recently as last night in the NBA how hard it is for any team to secure a trophy with a 4-0 sweep, especially on the road. More importantly, Edmonton should have some confidence after nearly rallying from down 4-1 to tie Game 3 on Thursday night. Oilers star Connor McDavid remains without a goal in this series, but he’s up to three assists after helping set up both of Edmonton’s late goals in Game 3.
The Oilers look too overmatched to make this a series, but it’s easy to see them finding a way to pull out Game 4 at home after finally finding some offense their last time out.
That being said, Bobrovsky and Florida defensemen Gustav Forsling and Aaron Ekblad are unlikely to allow another three-goal performance by the Oilers, so stick with Under 5.5, which is 2-1 in this series. It’s also worth noting here that dating back to the last three games of its conference finals series against the Rangers, five of Florida’s last six games went under 5.5 goals.
Picks: Edmonton moneyline (-120) at ESPN BET, Under 5.5 (-120) at ESPN BET
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