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Panthers at Oilers Stanley Cup Final Game 4 odds, expert picks: Florida attempts a sweep
Are we on the verge of a Stanley Cup Final sweep?
If all goes right for the Florida Panthers on Saturday night in Game 4 against the Edmonton Oilers, we could be. It would be the first time the Final ended in four games since 1998, when the Detroit Red Wings dusted the Washington Capitals. Here’s a fun fact: Oilers general manager Ken Holland was the Red Wings GM that year, and it was the second of back-to-back sweeps in the Cup final for Detroit.
If you can believe it, the Red Wings’ 1998 championship was also the fourth straight NHL season that ended through a sweep in the final round.
For the sake of the sport — if the Panthers win — let’s hope this doesn’t start another streak of Cup Final sweeps.
Through three games, the Panthers have stifled the Oilers’ best players and have gotten incredible goaltending to get themselves within one win of a Stanley Cup while holding a 3-0 series stranglehold. The Panthers had only won one game in their Stanley Cup Final history entering this series (they were swept in 1996 and were beaten in five games last year versus Vegas).
Odds are from BetMGM and update live. Buy tickets to see your favorite team on StubHub.
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Florida Panthers at Edmonton Oilers — Game 4
How to watch: 8 p.m. ET on ABC, SN
Panthers lead series 3-0
Series odds: Panthers -3000, Oilers +1300
- Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Evan Bouchard are all atop the NHL points leaderboard this postseason. Through three games, they’ve combined for four points. Neither of the three nor Zach Hyman, who leads all goalscorers with 14 this spring, have scored a goal in this series.
- Warren Foegele’s breakaway goal in Game 2 was significant for the Oilers: the first goal scored by an Oilers forward in the series. Ryan McLeod is now the second Oiler forward to score in this year’s Cup Final.
- Patrick Roy still has the highest save percentage ever recorded in one Stanley Cup Final at .974, following a scintillating performance for the Colorado Avalanche against Florida in 1996. How’s Sergei Bobrovsky’s save percentage through three Cup Final games? .953. It’s a rate that ties him with New York Islanders legend Billy Smith for seventh-best among goalies in NHL history.
- Florida Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk has gone cold recently. He scored his first point of the series in Game 3. He’s gone scoreless in his last eight games and hasn’t scored since Game 1 of the Eastern Conference final. Contrast that to his fellow former Calgary Flame teammate Sam Bennett who is on a six-game points streak (four goals, seven points).
Expert picks for Panthers at Oilers
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(Photo of Connor McDavid and Sergei Bobrovsky: Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)
Austin Smotherman will carry a three-stroke lead into the weekend at the Cognizant Classic at The Palm Beaches.
Smotherman followed his opening 62 with a 2-under-par 69 on Friday at PGA National’s Champion Course in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. That brought him to 11 under, comfortably clear of Taylor Moore, who is in second after his second straight 4-under 67.
Cognizant Classic scoreboard
“Yeah, leading a PGA Tour event, come on, pretty awesome,” Smotherman said.
Smotherman, 31, is in fine position for his first win on the PGA Tour since turning pro a decade ago. He has won three times on the Korn Ferry Tour, including last June.
Afterwards, he credited himself with playing “Austin Smotherman golf.” When asked what that meant, he responded, “as boring and simple as it can be.
“That’s what I want to do out there. I feel like I ball strike it good enough to have that kind of boring golf, a bunch of fairways ideally,” he said.
He suffered three bogeys Friday after a bogey-free opening round, but the key stretch for him after starting on the back nine was between Nos. 17 and 3. He birdied four holes in that stretch, starting with a 54-foot bomb at the par-3 17th hole.
“Anything under par I thought would have been (good) following up a round like yesterday, which was a special one,” he said, “and try not to get too far ahead of myself thinking I’m going to make every long putt I’m looking at, like kind of was the feeling yesterday, and then today I still make a 55-footer on 17.”
Moore overcame a bogey in each half of his round with three birdies on either nine, more than counterbalancing the rough patches to earn his second straight solid score.
“I think very different 67s,” Moore said when comparing his rounds. “I didn’t hit many fairways yesterday, kind of grinded a lot, had a couple chip-ins, which obviously helps. I thought I struck the ball much better today. Drove it in the fairways on the par-5s, I felt like. Yeah, still had a few up-and- downs, obviously, with the tough windy conditions this afternoon, but overall I thought it was solid.”
Canadian A.J. Ewart had the round of the day, a 64 that powered him to 7 under for the week. He’s tied with Colombia’s Nico Echavarria (72), and Joel Dahmen is in fifth at 6 under after a second consecutive 68.
Ewart, who played for nearby Barry University in college, came in with some familiarity.
“We used to come and watch this tournament when I was at school. I think I came up here twice, maybe three times and watched,” Ewart said. “I had never actually played the golf course, but I felt like I knew it just from watching it.”
Irishman Shane Lowry, one of the most recognizable players in the field, is in a large knot for sixth at 5 under after posting a 67. Defending champion Joe Highsmith made the cut on the number at even par.
Notable players who missed the cut included Webb Simpson (1 over), Gary Woodland (2 over), Matt Kuchar (2 over) and Canada’s Adam Hadwin (3 over).
Kim maintains narrow lead in Singapore
Auston Kim maintained a narrow lead over three seasoned competitors with a 3-under-par 69 on Friday at the HSBC Women’s World Championship in Singapore.
Kim carded five birdies and a double-bogey at the par-5 16th hole at Sentosa Golf Club to move to 9-under par, one shot ahead of major champions Minjee Lee of Australia (64 on Friday) and Thailand’s Ariya Jutanugarn (67) and three- time LPGA Tour winner Haeran Ryu of South Korea (68).
Lurking two shots back at 7-under in the no-cut event are Australia’s Hannah Green (66), Denmark’s Nanna Koerstz Madsen (68), Sweden’s Linn Grant (69) and England’s Mimi Rhodes (69).
Kim, an LPGA Tour member since 2024, has been knocking on the door of her first tour win. The American has eight finishes in the top 10 and was the runner-up at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship last season.
“I think just sticking to my process. I’m trying to earn each shot and win each shot and win each day,” Kim, 25, said of her strategy heading into the weekend. “I can put a hundred percent of my focus into every single shot and try my best to execute each time, I’ll do well.”
Lee soared into contention with an eagle at the par-4 second hole and six birdies in a bogey-free round.
“I think just I holed a few more putts out there,” Lee said of the difference between Friday’s play and her opening-round of 72. “I holed a few long ones and I also holed out for eagle on the second. That always helps the score.”
Jutanugarn had six birdies, including three straight from holes Nos. 5-7, and one bogey.
Ryu collected four birdies in a round free of bogeys, but not free from pain.
“Today, my neck was so bad and I cannot turn it around, it’s so hard, my neck,” Ryu said. “But yeah, golf is not perfect. I just think about it, just hit the fairway and the green. Yeah, that’s good for me. There’s a lot of birdies, and yeah, I’m so happy.”
Angel Yin matched Lee for the low round of the day with a 64 to move into a tie for ninth at 6-under.
Defending champion Lydia Ko of New Zealand (72) remained a 2-under posting four birdies and four bogeys.
World No. 1 Jeeno Thitikul of Thailand is tied for 33rd at 1-under after a round of 70.
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