The 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs resume Monday with a replay of the 2023 first-round series between the Boston Bruins and the Florida Panthers.Last year’s series saw Florida, the Eastern Conference’s Wild Card team, overcome a 3-1 series deficit and win in Game 7 overtime against the League-leading Bruins. This year, the Panthers are the top seed in the Atlantic Division and will face the second-ranked Bruins.
During the 2023-24 regular season, three out of four games between the two clubs were decided by one goal. Boston swept the regular-season series, although Florida has won the last two postseason series between the two teams.
Our AI-powered dfsPro model predicts notable individual performances for Monday’s second-round clash. Let’s take a look at some of our favorite NHL player props for Game 1: Bruins vs. Panthers!
Hottest Props: Boston Bruins
Charlie McAvoy: Over 0.5 points (+114, DraftKings).
In the first round of the playoffs, Boston defenseman Charlie McAvoy averaged a point per game in four games against the Toronto Maple Leafs. He cooled off offensively in the second half of the series, having three scoreless games, prompting our model to predict a 16% drop in his average point potential tonight against the Panthers. Still, our model predicts McAvoy will finish just above the betting line in Game 1 with 0.54 points.
Charlie Coyle: Over 0.5 points (+114 on DraftKings).
During the first round series, the Maple Leafs limited Bruins center Charlie Coyle to only two assists in seven games. As a result, his predicted point production in Game 1 vs Florida has dropped by 19% from his season average of 0.73 points per game. Despite the expected dip, Coyle’s point forecast for tonight’s game is barely above the betting line at 0.59.
Florida Panthers’ Vladimir Tarasenko has over 0.5 points (+114, DraftKings).
During the Panthers’ first-round series against the Tampa Bay Lightning, winger Vladimir Tarasenko contributed three points (1 goal, 2 assists) across five games.Our model predicts a 9% drop in Tarasenko’s average of 0.72 points per game in Game 1 against the Bruins, but he is still expected to finish slightly above the betting line at 0.65.
Sam Reinhart has over 3.5 shots on goal (+120, DraftKings).
In the first-round series against Tampa Bay, Panthers center Sam Reinhart had 23 shots on goal in five games, with only one game having fewer than four shots (Game 3 on April 25, a 5-3 Panthers victory). He averaged 2.84 shots per game during the regular season, but our model predicts a 33% increase to 3.79 shots tonight against the Bruins.
