Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final is set for Monday night as the Vegas Golden Knights host the Florida Panthers. And with Game 2 comes plenty of angles to sift through on PrizePicks.
But first, a quick refresher if you aren’t familiar with PrizePicks: You can combine up to five different player squares to pay out up to 10x your entry.
You can do a Flex Play or a Power Play. A Flex Play gives you lesser odds, but you can win money if you do not nail every pick. A Power Play is an all-or-nothing endeavor.
Here’s how I would approach Monday's Game 2 (8 p.m. ET, TNT).
What is PrizePicks? A daily fantasy operator — meaning they’re available in more states (30) than sports betting is! — PrizePicks offers a unique opportunity for action on player picks in which you combine two or more entries together.
Jonathan Marchessault + Aleksander Barkov More Than 0.5 Goals
We just need one of these two to bury the puck for this entry to go green. First, let’s look at Vegas forward Jonathan Marchessault, who scored in Game 1.
After a quiet opening series against the Winnipeg Jets, Marchessault has exploded over the past three rounds. Burying 10 goals over the past 11 games, he should keep the hot hand going on Monday evening.
This postseason, he leads the Knights in Expected Goals For per 60 minutes (xGF/60) at five-on-five. The Barbeshev-Eichel-Marchessault line has been – by far – the most dominating line for Vegas this postseason, with all due respect to the fourth line, (Carrier-Roy-Kolesar) which has played extremely well in its own right.
That aforementioned first line has generated an xGoals% of 57.3% this postseason, producing an excellent 3.40 xGF/60. By far, the biggest concern in backing Marchessault to score is Florida goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, who is putting together an epic performance in these Stanley Cup Playoffs.
However, he finally came back down to earth a bit in Game 1, allowing four goals on 33 shots for a .879 SV%. Meanwhile, Aleksander Barkov is also coming off a strong performance in the Eastern Conference Final, as he scored two goals while adding three assists in Florida's sweep of the Carolina Hurricanes.
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Adin Hill More Than 29.5 Saves
While Bobrovsky returned to earth a bit in Game 1, Knights goaltender Adin Hill remained dominant between the pipes. In that outing, Hill surrendered just two goals on 35 shots for a commanding .943 SV%.
While Bobrovsky has gotten all of the attention among goaltenders this postseason, Hill has been almost as impressive. Through 12 games, he is 8-3 with a .938 SV% and 2.06 GAA.
Not only are his numbers excellent, but he is posting these stats despite facing a ton of shots. Hill has recorded at least 30 saves in seven of his past nine starts, and I do not expect him to slow down anytime soon.
William Carrier More Than 3 Hits
In the first section, I alluded to how tremendous the Knights’ fourth line (Carrier-Roy-Kolesar) has been this postseason. They are playing well in all three zones, and they lead all Vegas forward lines in xGoals%.
Therefore, even in a Cup Final where most teams shrink the rotations and lean heavily on the top-six forwards, we should expect coach Bruce Cassidy to keep a healthy balance and roll all four lines. He has a tremendous amount of confidence in all his forward lines, which is completely justified given how well every member of this team has played.
With that said, William Carrier is going to continue to get strong minutes, making three hits easily attainable, which is how many he recorded in Game 1. After that performance, Carrier has now recorded at least three hits in four of his past six games and has surpassed 11 minutes of ice time in three of his past five.
This line is going to keep getting looks, and if Carrier is out there, he will play physically.
