Florida Panthers look to shut down Edmonton Oilers offence in Stanley Cup Finals rematch. 

One of the most highly-anticipated Stanley Cup Finals in years starts on Wednesday with the star-studded Edmonton Oilers hosting the defending Champion Florida Panthers. 

It promises to be an eventful series, marking just the third Stanley Cup Final rematch in NHL history. The Oilers are out for redemption after falling short in game seven last year, nearly completing a dramatic comeback from a 3-0 series deficit.

Game one will be a crucial one for both sides as the team that wins game one of the Stanley Cup Final has won the series 64 out of 84 times, which improves when that opening win comes on home ice, as the odds jump to 51 out of 61 times in history. 

All betting lines are from FanDuel Sportsbook and are subject to change. Hockey is a difficult sport to predict so please gamble responsibly.

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Edmonton Oilers vs Florida Panthers Game 1 Best Bets:

• Under 6.5 goals (-132)
• Sam Bennett anytime goal (+280)
• Carter Verhaeghe Over 0.5 points (-115) 
• Connor McDavid Over 1.5 points (-102)
• Leon Draisaitl anytime goal (+115)

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The public seems to expect that an offensive shootout is coming as the sportsbooks have the game listed at over/under 6.5 total goals. The sense is that the Oilers will want to rebound after last year's loss and push the Panthers into a high-scoring affair for a series-opening win. 

I expect the opposite effect to work as we've seen both teams using their defences to shut down the best of opposing offences and make for low-scoring outcomes.

This happen in last year's game one of the Finals, where the Oilers were blanked in a 3-0 loss. In game two, they were limited once again with the Panthers managing to continue their smother of the Oilers offence for a 4-1 victory. 

This is the third straight Finals appearance for the Panthers and they know what they are doing with their mindset likely being that they aren't going to let in a goal at all costs.

I expect this mentality to shine through once again as the Oilers are coming in with a new team and the highest of expectations as they are expected to win the series. 

With that in mind, we will need to see some scoring from someone as a goal has to be scored and we gave a pretty lengthy deep dive recently on what players excel in series-opening games. For the Cats, the most notable name is Sam Bennett, who has made a knack out of scoring clutch goals. 

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The Canadian forward found the net against the United States in the Four Nations Championship and has built a reputation for strong starts, scoring in three consecutive Game Ones and tallying four goals in his last five series openers. 

Bennett has been playing on a line recently with the dynamic duo of Carter Verhaeghe and Matthew Tkachuk, who both have a stellar history of opening up series with a bang. Verhaeghe offers better value in this spot, having consistently delivered in series openers. 

He scored in last year’s Stanley Cup Final game one and has totaled four goals and five assists in his last seven Game Ones. This postseason alone, he’s recorded one goal and four assists across three series openers. The two forwards should come together for a much needed goal in a tight low-scoring affair. 

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McDavid posted two goals and 14 assists over his last seven Game Ones, including a goal and seven helpers in three openers this postseason. Outside of last year’s Cup Final shutout loss, he’s recorded a point in every other series opener.

Draisaitl has been Mr. Reliable in Game Ones. With a goal and an assist in each of his three openers this postseason, he brings five goals and seven assists in his last seven Game Ones. Only twice in that span has he been held without a goal to start a series.