The Vancouver Canucks continue on their road trip as they travel to the other Florida team with a date with the reigning Stanley Cup champions. Vancouver is still searching for their first victory of the season. Can they get it tonight against a banged-up Florida Panthers?

Canucks vs. Lightning odds

  • Vancouver Canucks Moneyline (-115)
  • Florida Panthers Moneyline (-105)
  • Puck Line: Canucks -1.5 (+200), Panthers +1.5 (-323)
  • Game Total: Over 5.5 (-115), Under 5.5 (-106)
Odds courtesy of Sports Interaction.

Matchup

The Vancouver Canucks enter this contest with a 0-1-2 record, dropping games in overtime and a shootout to the Calgary Flames and Philadelphia Flyers and, most recently, a regulation loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning. While the Panthers haven’t had trouble finding the win column, capturing two victories against the Boston Bruins and one against the Columbus Blue Jackets. They dropped games against division opponents, such as the Ottawa Senators and Buffalo Sabres.
The Canucks are tied for 23rd in goals for (2.67), tied for ninth in goals against (4), 31st in shots on goal per game (25.7), and tied for 22nd in shots on goal allowed per game (28).
Last season, the Canucks made light work of this Panthers team, sweeping the season series 2-0 and outscoring them 9-3. However, before that, the Panthers dominated the Canucks, winning five straight games of their own, outscoring Vancouver 21-9.
Check out Daily Faceoff for lineups and starting goaltenders for the Canucks and Panthers.

Handicapping the Canucks (0-3 SU, 0-3 ATS, 1-2 O/U)

The Canucks started the last game quite bland and stale. They registered just seven shots on goal, allowing Nikita Kucherov to score early in the first period. The rest of the game felt like a catch-up for this Canucks squad. Never really involved or a threat to come back and make the game interesting.
The lone bright spot was that it was the best Elias Pettersson game of the season. However, that doesn’t say much, as he finished with zero points and a minus-three rating. But we finally saw him start to shoot the puck. He finished with three shots on goal on four shot attempts.
On defence, we might see a switch-up. Erik Brannstrom earned the call-up and projects to slot into the lineup tonight, with Fobort taking some time away from the team. This should help Vancouver’s secondary scoring options, as he will bring an added level of puck-moving that the bottom pair hasn’t seen yet.
We’ll see how these new line configurations look in pre-game warmup and how well they gel together. Kevin Lankinen is between the pipes tonight.

Handicapping the Panthers (3-2 SU, 2-3 ATS, 4-1 O/U)

The Panthers are beat up at this point. First, their captain, Aleksander Barkov, was injured at the end of their second game of the year; he’ll miss another two to three weeks. Known antagonist Matthew Tkachuk will also be sidelined for this game with an illness. Florida has recently seen elevated play out of Anton Lundell, as he’s logging top-line, top penalty-killing, and second-unit power play minutes. He’s logged four shots on goal in three of four games.
Their depth is where they’re lacking. The Panthers currently have a bottom six consisting of AJ Greer, Jesper Boqvist, Mackie Samoskevich, Jonah Gadjovich, Patrick Giles and Uvis Balinskis – not very well-known names.
However, their 4-1 record on over/under props so far this season indicates that they still have no problem putting the puck in the back of the net. Sergei Bobrovsky will man the crease tonight in Florida.

My best bets

Jake DeBrusk anytime goalscorer (+250)
We are running this back from last game. DeBrusk played his worst game in a Canucks uniform last outing, failing even to register a shot attempt. But hey, what better way to get your first goal as a member of a new team than on your birthday? It is Jake’s 28th birthday today. Funny enough, just two years ago, DeBrusk played on his birthday, against the Florida Panthers. He scored two goals and one assist in that game.
Game Total Over 5.5 (-115)
As previously touched on, looking at Florida’s ability to score while also not being able to keep the puck out of their net leads us to this over. The Canucks scored nine goals themselves against the Panthers last season and had no trouble potting five in the first game. Let’s hope they can replicate that success against a weakened Panthers team.