The Ottawa Senators open their season as they host the Florida Panthers. It is time to continue our NHL odds series with a Panthers-Senators prediction and pick.
The Florida Panthers enter the game after a win on opening night. They dominated the first period, with Sam Bennett scoring twice and Sam Reinhart adding a short-handed goal leading 4-1. They would add another goal in the second and third periods, winning the game 6-4 over the Bruins.
Meanwhile, the Senators will be entering the season with a new head coach. Travis Green will be taking over after the Senators went 37-41-4 last year, sitting 14th in the Eastern Conference. Green was the head coach in Vancouver for just over four seasons. They made the playoffs just once in that time, and Green was fired during the 2021-22 season. Last year, Green was the interim coach for the Devils, going 8-12-1 in his time.
Here are the Panthers-Senators NHL odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
NHL Odds: Panthers-Senators Odds
Florida Panthers: -1.5 (+184)
Moneyline: -137
Ottawa Senators: +1.5 (-225)
Moneyline: +114
Over: 6.5 (-104)
Under: 6.5 (-118)
How To Watch Panthers vs Senators
Time: 7:00 PM ET/ 4:00 PM PT
TV: ESPN+
Stream: fuboTV (Free Trial)
Why the Panthers Could Cover the Spread/Win
The Panthers bring back their top guys from last year's Cup team. Sam Reinhart comes back to lead the first line. Last year he led the team with 57 goals while adding 37 assists, good for 94 total points. He scored 27 times on the power play with seven power-play assists. Reinhart had a goal and an assist in his first game of the year. He will be joined on the top line by Carter Verhaeghe and Aleksander Barkov. Barkov had 23 goals with 57 assists last year, good for 80 points, third on the team. Barkov had an assist in the first game of the year. Verhaeghe had 34 goals and 38 assists last year, good for 72 points, fourth on the team. Furthermore, Barkov had 24 assists on the power play, while Verhaeghe had eight goals and 13 assists on the power play.
The second line will be led by Matthew Tkachuk. He scored 26 goals last year with 62 assists. He led the team in assists while sitting second on the team with 88 points. Further, he has six goals and 26 assists on the power play. Tkachuk had an assist in the first game of the year. He will be joined by Evan Rodrigues and Sam Bennett. Rodrigues had 12 goals and 27 assists last year, good for 39 total points. He also had a goal and an assist in the first game of the year. Meanwhile, Bennett had 20 goals and 21 assists last year. Bennett scored twice in the first game of the year.
Sergei Bobrovsky is expected to be in goal for the Panthers in this one. He was 36-17-4 last year with a 2.37 goals-against average and a .915 save percentage. Further, he had six shutouts last year. Bobrovsky was tied for third in wins, third in goals against average, tied for seventh in save percentage, and tied for first in shutouts. Bobrovsky stopped just 24 of 28 shots in the win over the Bruins.
Why the Senators Could Cover the Spread/Win
The Ottawa Senators will be returning their top line from last year. Brady Tkachuk leads the line. Last year he led the team with 37 goals, while also having 37 assists. Further, he led the team with 74 total assists. Brady Tkachuk has 12 goals and 10 assists on the power play as well. He will be joined by Tim Stutzle. Stutzle was second on the team while leading the team in assists. Stutzle had 18 goals and 52 assists last year, for a total of 70 points. Further, he has a goal and 19 assists on the power play. Rounding out the line is Claude Giroux. Giroux had 21 goals and 43 assists last year.
Drake Batherson will be leading the second line. He was third on the team in points last year. Batherson had 28 goals and 38 assists last year. He also had seven goals and 15 assists on the power play last year. The Senators will be without their top defender from last year, Jakob Chychurn, who left in the offseason. Still, they have his blue-line partner back in Jake Sanderson. Sanderson had a plus-eight rating, having ten goals and 28 assists.
Linus Ullmark will be making his first start for the Senators. He was 22-10-7 last year with a 2.58 goals-against average and a .915 save percentage. He was tenth in goals against average and seventh in save percentage.
Final Panthers-Senators Prediction & Pick
The Senators open their NHL season as the underdog in odds in this one. They will have Linus Ullmark though. Ullmark was solid in three games in the regular season against the Panthers. He allowed just five goals on 95 shots in three games against the Panthers. Further, Ullmark was 3-0 against the Panthers last year. Ullmark will keep this one close, but the best play on this is the under.
Final Panthers-Senators Prediction & Pick: Under 6.5 (-118)