Posted at 4:30 PM EST odds are subject to change.

Pinnacle -½ +104  BET365  -½ +115 Sportsinteraction -½ -116 888Sport -½ -115

Florida -½ +115 over Vegas

7:07 PM EST. Regulation only. Perhaps the most forgotten team in the NHL. The Panthers didn’t do much at the trade deadline and its position to make the playoffs remains precarious. That said, getting Anthony Duclair back is a big boost. Let’s not forget, however, that Florida is last year’s Presidents’ Trophy winners. Record be damned, this is still a very good team that proves our hypothesis that NHL outcomes are heavily luck driven. Last year, Florida’s puck luck was very good and this year it is not. Florida is absolutely in contention to make the playoffs so motivation is not an issue.

Speaking of luck, we need not look past the Golden Knights of Las Vegas. Their luck has been off the charts recently and the proof is in the pudding. The last time Vegas won a game by more than one goal was almost a full month ago when they beat Anaheim 7-2. Since then, Vegas is 7-3 with all seven wins being by one goal. All one-goal games are nothing but pure luck, thus, we could be discussing a Vegas team on a 10-game losing streak. Instead, they are 7-3 over that span and getting far too much credit. Even more interesting is that the Golden Knights played just two road games over that aforementioned lucky streak and both were losses including one to Chicago. The other one was a 3-0 loss in Colorado. Since the All-Star break, the Golden Knights have the second best record in the NHL but they have not come close to playing like it. Oddsmakers are very aware that the Golden Knights record is very misleading, which is why they made the Panthers a -150 favorite against one of the “hottest” teams in the league. Florida is the correct play here to win in regulation, as Vegas’ puck luck is due for some serious regression to the negative.

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