NHL Game 3 Best Bets: Expert Picks Hurricanes vs. Panthers Analysis

Written by

Daniel Dobish

Published on May 24, 2025

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The Stanley Cup Playoffs continue Saturday evening with Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Final at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Fla. Puck drop is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET on TNT/truTV/Max. We'll take a look at not only the moneyline and total, but we'll make some prop predictions and same-game parlay picks, too. Let's get started.

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Hurricanes vs Panthers Game 3: Betting Tips, Odds & Predictions

For the latest NHL Odds, including NHL Futures and NHL player props, visit RotoWire's NHL Betting page. For up-to-date NHL player news and NHL Injury Report info, head to RotoWire's NHL Lineups page. You can find more picks at Bookies.com/picks. Here are our NHL Best Bets today, featuring expert NHL picks for an action-packed slate of games.

Strategies for Betting on Game 3: Hurricanes vs Panthers

The defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers dominated the first two games at Lenovo Center in Raleigh, N.C. against the Carolina Hurricanes. "Shoot the puck!", said the Hurricanes fans. The Panthers got the Canes away from their usual game plan, making them think, and re-think, and doubt, and play perhaps the worst two consecutive games of the season.

The Panthers picked up a 5-2 victory in Game 1, and it got worse in Game 2. The Cats jumped all over Frederik Andersen for three goals in the first period, as Gustav Forsling had his first goal of the postseason just 77 seconds into the game.

Matthew Tkachuk picked up a goal at 11:41 of the first period, with Carter Verhaeghe and Niko Mikkola adding assists. Sam Bennett had a power-play goal, with Verhaeghe and Evan Rodrigues adding helpers. Bennett was back with an even-strength goal late in the second period, and that was all for Andersen. He stopped just 12 of the 16 shots he faced, getting a rest after 40 minutes. Pyotr Kochetkov allowed a goal on five shots in the third period, as Aleksander Barkov hit on the power play to make it 5-0.

Bench boss Rod Brind'Amour, in an attempt to shake things up, has named Kochetkov as his Game 3 starter in net.

There were very few positives for the Hurricanes in Game 2. Florida had 21 shots, to just 17 for Carolina. The Panthers had 56 hits, to just 42 for the Hurricanes. Florida was 2-for-2 on the power play, while Carolina was 0-for-3 on the man advantage. The Cats also blocked 19 shots, while the Canes had 17 blocks.

If the Canes did anything well, it was holding a slight 51.9 percent faceoff percentage advantage. Anton Lundell was the best guy at the faceoff dot for Florida, winning 69.2 percent (9 of 13). For Carolina, Sebastian Aho had a 71.4 percent (10 of 14) advantage at the dot.

Bennett ended up with two goals with three points and four hits. Eetu Luostarinen registered a game-high eight hits, while Barkov, Aaron Ekblad and Seth Jones led the way with three blocked shots for Florida.

For Carolina, Brett Burns was good for five blocked shots to lead the way for the Canes, with Jack Roslovic good for three blocks and three hits. Captain Jordan Staal doled out seven hits to lead the Canes. Andrei Svechnikov had five hits, which was nice, but he also was scoreless with a minus-3 rating and a minor penalty which led the Bennett's first-period goal.

Sergei Bobrovsky was good for 17 saves for his third shutout of the postseason, helping him improve to 10-4-0 with a 2.13 GAA and .910 SV%.

On the flip side, Andersen entered this series with a 1.36 GAA, but it has risen to 2.01 after the first two games. He is 7-4-0 with a 2.01 GAA and .907 SV% in the postseason. In fact, "The Great Dane" had allowed just 12 total goals in the first nine playoff games, and nine goals in 97:27 across two starts against the Panthers. It's risky for Rod the Bod to get away from Andersen, even as bad as he has been. But, something needs to change, and The Great Dane has been brutal.

The Panthers are moderate favorites, and honestly, it's quite surprising that they're not a favorite in the neighborhood of -190 to -210. Florida dominated the first two games in Raleigh, winning by a combined score of 10-2, so there is little reason to believe in Carolina. Oh, did we mention that the Canes are 0-14 in the Conference Final round, last winning in the ECF against the Buffalo Sabres in 2002.

Back the Panthers on the moneyline, and go rather aggressively on that. And, with the way the Canes offense has failed to participate, let's go low on the total.

Top NHL Prop Bets for Hurricanes vs Panthers Showdown

Looking at the props, Carolina's Logan Stankoven has one or no shots on goal in each of the past six playoff games since Game 2 of the Washington series. Let's go low on his Shots on Goal (SOG) total at Under 1.5.

Florida's Carter Verhaeghe picked up three assists in Game 2, and he has managed a goal and five points in the first two games of this series, including a power-play goal and three points on the man advantage. Go with Verhaeghe to get to at least one point on home ice.