NHL.com identifies key gameday matchups and players to watch throughout the 2023-24 season.
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Note: Betting lines provided by Betway (U.S., Ontario)
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1. Florida Panthers at Tampa Bay Lightning (7:00 p.m. ET; MAX, TBS, BSFLX, BSSUN, BSFL, TVAS2, SN)
FLA puckline (+1.5 goals): -260
TBL puckline (-1.5 goals): +200
The Panthers won the first two games of this series and will visit the Lightning for Game 3. Tampa Bay was tied for the 10th-most wins in the NHL at home this season (25). The Lightning also ranked third in goals per game (3.80) in the League while playing at home. Tampa Bay went 1-2 in three games against Florida this regular season, scoring nine goals and allowing 15 in the span. In their only regular season win against the Panthers the Lightning had a goal differential of two.
Lightning forward Brayden Point has points in both games of this series so far with one goal and one assist in the span. Nikita Kucherov has an assist in each of his past two games and in the regular season had four points (two goals, two assists) and 11 shots on goal in three games against Florida. For the Panthers, Matthew Tkachuk has three points (one goal, two assists) and eight shots on goal so far in this series. Carter Verhaeghe has a goal in each game of the playoffs and three total points in the span.
2. Carolina Hurricanes at New York Islanders (7:30 p.m. ET; MSGSN, BSSO, ESPN2, SN360, TVAS)
CAR moneyline: -150
NYI moneyline: +125
The Hurricanes are up 2-0 in this first round series against the Islanders after winning both home games. New York went 2-1-1 in four games against Carolina during the regular season, scoring 14 goals and allowing 16 in the span. Since 2021-22 the Hurricanes are 3-10 in 13 road playoff games. In three of their four regular season games the two teams had a goal differential of one.
For New York, Anders Lee has a point in each of the first two games of this series with one goal and one assist in the span. He had seven shots on goal in Game 1. Kyle Palmieri had one goal and four shots on goal in their last game. Hurricanes forward Seth Jarvis has three points (one goal, two assists) and three shots on goal in Game 2. Sebastian Aho also had a multi-point performance in their last game with a goal and an assist.
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