The Florida Panthers host the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday night in what is expected to be a tight battle, as these two teams have split their last four match-ups at Amerant Bank Arena.
The Penguins started to turn things around in early November and started to gain momentum into December.
They now find themselves on a tough losing skid, with losses in eight of their last 11 games. Their biggest struggle as of late is their power play, as they haven’t scored a goal on with the man-advantage in 27 days despite having 33 opportunities. They also likely may see that streak continue with the Panthers having the fourth best penalty kill in the league since the start of November.
Bet: Panthers team total under 3.5 goals (-125 DraftKings)
I just listed many reasons why the Penguins shouldn’t be the team you put your money on as they certainly haven’t been good lately. However, despite their losing ways, they are still second since the start of November in fewest goals against per game and that’s thanks to goaltender Tristan Jarry. He’s been still impressive despite a 8-9-2 record with a 2.50 GAA that puts him top 12 in the league and a .917 save percentage which has him tied for ninth. He’s going to keep the Penguins in this game and should help keep the Cats off the score sheet.
Bet: Sidney Crosby Over 1.5 points (+165 DraftKings)
The Penguins long-time captain is still showing that at age 36 he is one of the best players in the world with 27 points in 25 games this season. He also has a great history versus the Cats with 16 goals and 34 points in their last 21 match-ups. Not to mention, during that span he only had three games where he didn’t record a point and had 11 multi-point games with three in their last four match-ups. The Penguins should be feisty in this one and the fight will be led by theircaptain.