The Florida Panthers will head to the “Steel City” to take on the Pittsburgh Penguins. Join us for our NHL odds series where our Panthers-Penguins prediction and pick will be revealed.

Last time out on the ice, the Panthers were able to defend their home ice by crushing the Arizona Coyotes by a score of 6-2. Not to mention, but Florida has now won back-to-back games after losing four games in a row. Overall, the Panthers are a certified contender with a record of 29-14-4 and seem to have figured things out of late.

Meanwhile, the Penguins are barely keeping their heads above water with a record of 21-17-6, but have happened to lose four of their last five games and are certainly trending in a negative fashion. Fortunately, their last victory did happen to come at home, and the Penguins will certainly be keeping their fingers crossed that they can make a return to the win column.

Here are the NHL Odds, courtesy of FanDuel. 

NHL Odds: Panthers-Penguins Odds

Florida Panthers: -1.5 (+188)

Moneyline: -126

Pittsburgh Penguins: +1.5 (-235)

Moneyline: +105

Over: 6.5 (-102)

Under: 6.5 (-120)

How to Watch Panthers vs. Penguins

Time: 7:10 ET/4:10 PT

TV: ESPN+

Stream: fuboTV (Click for free trial)

Why The Panthers Will Cover The Spread/Win

If there is one major statistical category where the Panthers can single-handily dominate night in and night out, it is a suffocating defense that plays incredibly well as a team. In fact, Florida only surrenders .260 scores per contest which ranks as the fourth-best mark in all of hockey. Over the span of Florida's mini two-game winning streak, the Panthers have given up only three goals and are more than capable in putting the clamps down on Pittsburgh. At the end of the day, whether or not Florida can find the back of the net on a consistent basis remains to be seen, but putting forth the effort defensively is all about effort.

While Florida will make it a priority to play impeccable defense led by the 35-year-old goalie Sergei Bobrovsky who is 22-10-2 when starting, it also wouldn't hurt if they tallied a couple more scores when given an opportunity on the extra-man attack. While it was Florida that held Arizona in check when shorthanded by thwarting the Coyotes' power-play chances six separate times, capitalizing on the offensive end in that same category would prove to do wonders. In comparison to the Penguins and their measly 13% conversion rate on power plays, the Panthers are scoring on 22% of those same chances as well. Don't be alarmed if Florida's steady power-play prowess on both ends is ultimately the difference-maker in this one.

Why The Penguins Will Cover The Spread/Win

Without a doubt, the time is now for the Pittsburgh Penguins to turn it on. Simply put, it is now or never.

As it stands, Pittsburgh has played 44 games up to this point, and for the remaining 38, the Penguins will need to be close to flawless in order to get back into the postseason hunt. It all starts with Pittsburgh goalie Tristan Jarry who is coming off a pair of rough outings consecutively. In the last 55 shots that he has faced, Jarry has only stopped 48 pucks which is not going to cut it against a Panthers offense that can make life a living hell for an opposing goalie in the blink of an eye. As a whole, Jarry does boast the most shutouts in the league with five total and does hold a respectable 2.56 goals average against. At the end of the day. Pittsburgh desperately needs Jarry to be at his best if their season is going to experience a turnaround and it must start tonight at home against the Panthers.

Surprisingly enough, the one thing that Pittsburgh doesn't falter in is with the hefty amount of shots on goal they are capable of putting up each game. With over 1,460 shots on goal committed by this offense, the name of the game in this one for the ‘Pens is to be aggressive offensively no matter what the cause. With the likes of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Jake Guentzel all equipped with rock-solid sniper ability, there is certainly reason to believe that Pittsburgh can control the time of attack by peppering Bobrovsky. If this ends up being the case, then the Penguins will ultimately make a game out of things.

Final Panthers-Penguins Prediction & Pick

Clearly, these are two teams that are heading in opposite directions. Don't overthink it. Take the Panthers to have their way in this one by a considerable margin.

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Final Panthers-Penguins Prediction & Pick: Panthers -1.5 (+188)