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- What: Game 2 of the 2023 NHL Stanley Cup Final
- Who: Florida Panthers vs. Vegas Golden Knights
- Date: Monday, June 5, 2023
- Location: T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, NV
- Time: 8:00 p.m. ET
- How to Watch: TNT, TBS, truTV, CBC, SN, TVAS
Game 1 of the 2023 Stanley Cup Final took place on Saturday, June 3, at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. In the first game of the series, the Western Conference’s Vegas Golden Knights down the Florida Panthers, who represent the NHL’s Eastern Conference, by a score of 5-2. The Golden Knights Jack Eichel and Shea Theodore led all players in scoring with two points.
Florida opened the scoring of Game 1 of the 2023 Stanley Cup Final with a goal from Eric Staal. Vegas evened things out before the end of the first stanza when Jonathan Marchessault scored his 10th goal of the 2023 NHL playoffs. Shea Theodore gave the Golden Knights the lead at 10:54 of the second period, but Anthony Duclair evened things up with 11 seconds left in that period. Vegas goaltender Adin Hill shut things down for his team in the third period, stopping 12 shots in the third stanza. Hill’s team helped him out, scoring three times in the final 20 minutes of the game.
The Golden Knights and Florida Panthers are back on the ice for Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final tonight in Vegas.
Before we look at Game 2 of the 2023 Stanley Cup Final series between the Florida Panthers and the Vegas Golden Knights, check out the best sites for NHL betting and our guide to betting on the 2023 Stanley Cup.
2023 Stanley Cup Final Game 2 betting picks
| Team |  |  |  |
| Winnipeg Blue Bombers | +300 | +300 | +300 |
| BC Lions | +425 | +425 | +425 |
| Toronto Argonauts | +550 | +550 | +550 |
| Hamilton Tiger-Cats | +650 | +650 | +650 |
| Calgary Stampeders | +700 | +700 | +700 |
| Montreal Alouettes | +750 | +750 | +750 |
| Saskatchewan Roughriders | +900 | +900 | +900 |
| Ottawa Redblacks | +1200 | +1200 | +1200 |
| Edmonton Elks | +1600 | +1600 | +1600 |
Florida Panthers Game 2 Stanley Cup final betting breakdown
The Florida Panthers had a long layoff between their sweep of the Carolina Hurricanes in the 2023 NHL Eastern Conference Final and the first game of the 2023 Stanley Cup Final against the Vegas Golden Knights. That time off seemed to hurt the Panthers in the early going of Game 1 as the team seemed a bit slow and haphazard in their play. However, by the end of the second period, the Panthers looked more like the chippy team who parlayed a win in their last game of the 2023 NHL season to the final wildcard spot in the 2023 NHL playoffs.
The Panthers did their best to get Vegas to retaliate to their style of in-your-face play, but outside of a bit of a clash in the first period, Vegas did not bite. It’ll be interesting to see if the Panthers can be pesky and irritating without taking penalties of their own as this series moves forward.
The Panthers are a balanced team, but they have relied on far fewer players for their scoring in the 2023 NHL playoffs than the Vegas Golden Knights. If players like Matthew Tkachuk, Sam Reinert, and Brandon Montour don’t score goals against Vegas, Florida will find themselves in deep water.
Florida goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky played well in Game 1, but too often, he found himself facing screens of multiple players. Florida needs to do its best to keep the area in front of its goaltender clear and force Vegas to take low-percentage shots and keep them from picking up rebounds off those shots.
Vegas Golden Knights Game 2 Stanley Cup final betting breakdown
Those waiting for the pressure to get to Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Adin Hill are still waiting. Hill, who was picked up for a fourth-round draft pick, and was essentially the Golden Knight’s fourth-string goaltender, is now 8-3 in the 2023 NHL Playoffs with a .938 save percentage and a 2.06 goals against average. The 27-year-old is a pending unrestricted free agent. He is sure to earn a big raise in the off-season, even if the Golden Knights don’t win the 2023 Stanley Cup.
During the 2023 NHL regular season and playoffs, the Golden Knights have been a team that doesn’t care who scores. In the Western Conference series against the Dallas Stars, all 19 players who took to the ice during that series scored at least one point. In Game 1 against the Florida Panthers, 10 players scored at least one point. Jack Eichel and Shea Theodore were the only two Vegas players who scored two points in the game.
Vegas did an admirable job in not biting on Florida’s attempts to goad them into taking penalties. Game 1 ended with Florida having 46 penalty minutes to Vegas’ 18. Don’t expect Vegas to retaliate against the Panthers with the Cup on the line.
2023 Stanley Cup Final Schedule
- Game 2 (at VGK): Mon., June 5, 8 p.m.(TNT)
- Game 3 (at FLA): Thurs., June 8, 8 p.m. (TNT)
- Game 4 (at FLA): Sat., June 10, 8 p.m. (TNT)
- Game 5 (at VGK): Tues., June 13, 8 p.m. (TNT)
- Game 6 (at FLA): Fri., June 16, 8 p.m. (TNT)
- Game 7 (at VGK): Mon., June 19, 8 p.m. (TNT)
Best bets to win Game 2 of the 2023 Stanley Cup Final
The Golden Knights are deep, focused, willing to give up their bodies, unwilling to retaliate, and have a goaltender playing at the top of his game. I don’t expect to see that change ahead of Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final. Vegas play an unselfish game, players block shots, get in the shooting lane, don’t take too many unnecessary penalties, and don’t care who scores goals. They are playing true team hockey. That’s not to say the Florida Panthers don’t possess those same attributes. They do. However, Florida relies on far fewer players to put up goals, which will hurt them in this series and in Game 2. The best bet for tonight’s Stanley Cup final matchup between the Panthers and the Golden Knights is to pick Vegas to win and go up 2-0 in the 2023 Stanley Cup Final series.
Best 2023 Stanley Cup Final Game 2 betting pick: Vegas Golden Knights to beat Florida Panthers.
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