Canucks vs Panthers Odds
| Canucks Odds | +112 |
| Panthers Odds | +110 |
| Over / Under | 6.5 -134 / +110 |
The Panthers raised their Eastern Conference championship banner on Thursday night prior to a quality 3-1 victory over the visiting Maple Leafs.
They moved to 2-2-0 with the victory, and they should be happy to be anywhere above .500 in the early going of this season playing without key defenders Brandon Montour and Aaron Ekblad.
Vancouver entered the season as trendy candidates to steal a wild-card berth in the softer Western Conference after a strong finish to last season under new head coach Rick Tocchet.
The Cabucks' back-to-back wins over Edmonton to start the campaign inspired lots of hope for fans, but consecutive losses to Philadelphia and Tampa Bay have exposed some of the same roster flaws.
Vancouver Canucks
The key to turning the Canucks around for Rick Tocchet has always revolved around improving defensive structure and becoming a more difficult side for the opposition to play against.
That is no surprise for anybody who has watched Vancouver the last two seasons, or who has followed Tocchet's coaching career.
The Canucks' current roster will never be an outright dominant defensive side. They have roster flaws that will prevent that from happening. Most notably a second defensive pairing of Tyler Myers and Ian Cole will always prove hard to hide; each is simply a below-average NHL skater in those roles.
In the final 20 games of last season, Vancouver did appear to start turning a corner in terms of playing a stronger team game. The Canucks skated to a strong 51.72 xGF% with just a 2.96 xGA/60, and those numbers ran in line with the "eye test."
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In a tiny sample this season, the Canucks' 39.26% expected goals rating paints a horrible picture, but it's not one that's entirely accurate of their play thus far. There were clear positives from both games with Edmonton, and they fought hard in a tough spot with the Lightning on Thursday. Only the Philadelphia game should truly be concerning.
This year's roster is offering Tocchet slightly more talent to work with. Whether used on the top defensive pairing or to help balance the second unit, Filip Hronek should be a useful addition. Pius Suter is a quality two-way player who should prove effective in the third-line center role.
Offensively they have the potential to be quite strong, led by an elite top-line center in Elias Pettersson. Their opening wins over Edmonton illustrated their upside on that front.
Of all the early storylines for the Canucks, dominant play from Thatcher Demko in goal should be viewed as the most noteworthy. Demko owns a +2.9 GSAx with a .930 save %, and he appears to be playing at the dominant level displayed prior to his significant groin injury.
Florida Panthers
Florida has also had a tough schedule to start the campaign. The team started 0-2 in tough road games in Minnesota and Winnipeg before rattling off back-to-back wins over Eastern Conference contenders Toronto and New Jersey.
A 54.25% expected goals rating is quite excellent considering that slate of competition.
Even still, it's hard to buy into the idea of Oliver Ekman Larsson being an effective top-pairing player, and he will remain in that role for the time being. Same goes for Dmitry Kulikov, who has an important role on the second defensive pairing.
We see players able to plug into heightened roles for a handful of games successfully for 2-3 games all the time – before eventually being exposed. That could be what happens with those two.
Sergei Bobrovsky owns a +0.9 GSAx rating and .908 save % in four appearances so far. It was unlikely he would be able to follow up the ridiculous level displayed last postseason, and he hasn't to this point.
It is also worth noting that Bobrovsky has started all four games thus far. It's likely that backup Anthony Stolarz gets game action soon, but perhaps Tuesday's matchup against San Jose would make more sense.
Canucks vs Panthers
Betting Pick & Prediction
Vancouver has had a disappointing 1-2 start to its road trip, but altogether its play has not turned me off betting on the team as a scrappy underdog.
The Canucks' roster composition looks better than in seasons past, and the buy-in to what Rick Tocchet is preaching seems significant.
Florida has played quite well to start the season considering its shortages on the back end. The Panthers have played better than expected defensively in particular, but in time their current roster could prove to be flawed.
This looks like a spot where the Canucks will bring a simple road game and make life tough for the Panthers. Demko could easily prove to be a better starting option than Bobrovsky this year, even if that is not an overly common sentiment.
These two teams are currently closer than their reputations suggest roster-wise, and I am happy to get the Canucks at plus money in this spot. Friday's odds of +112 provide lots of value, and anything better than +102 is a play for me.
Pick: Vancouver Canucks (+112 at BetRivers) | Play to +102
