Well, apparently the Florida Panthers aren’t quite unbeatable. The reigning Stanley Cup champs demolished the Carolina Hurricanes across the first three games of their Eastern Conference Final series, but the Canes fought off elimination in Game 4 on Monday. They work to do it again on Wednesday evening’s Game 5, but it’ll be a very tough battle against a stacked Florida squad — coming back from down 3-1 in the series looks even more improbable.
Here’s a Hurricanes vs. Panthers Game 4 prediction and pick on DraftKings Sportsbook the Monday night action.
Hurricanes vs. Panthers Game 5 prediction, pick
Despite the series heading back to Raleigh, the visiting Panthers again enter as Moneyline favorites with -125 odds to win outright. The home-team Hurricanes hold +105 odds on the Moneyline with a game total of 5.5 combined goals.
The Panthers suffered a rare shutout in Game 4, falling 3-0 as goaltender Frederik Andersen finally held his own against a strong Florida attack. Logan Stankoven opened the scoring before Sebastian Aho and Jordan Staal each netted goals of their own, and if the Canes play this way again, they stand a chance.
Unfortunately for the Carolina faithful, last game felt more like a one-off fluke than a real sign of life. The Panthers won’t go scoreless very often and Andersen hasn’t played well at all through this series either. A bounce back to prior form feels imminent for both of these sides, which means Game 5 might be a blowout affair just like the first few contests of this Eastern Conference Final matchup.
If that’s the case, watch for Matthew Tkachuk, Aleksander Barkov, and Sam Reinhart to get back in the scoring column while Sergei Bobrovsky regains his composure between the posts. The Hurricanes can’t hold out forever — the end is nigh.
Best bet: FLA Panthers 60 Min Line (+125)
