Panthers vs Red Wings Prediction, Picks & Starting Goalies (Wednesday, Oct. 15)

• The Panthers are -140 moneyline favorites over the Red Wings on Wednesday
• Sergei Bobrovsky is 3-0 with a sparkling 1.67 GAA to start the season
• See my Panthers vs Red Wings prediction and picks below, plus the latest odds and starting goalies

The defending champion Panthers (3-1-0, 0-1-0 away) roll into the Motor City tonight to face the Red Wings (2-1-0, 1-1-0 home). Online sportsbooks are expecting Florida to pick up their fourth win in five games per the latest NHL odds, pegging them as road chalk. I don’t have an opinion on a side for this matchup, but what I am predicting is that this contest falls short of offensive expectations.

Puck drop is set for 7 pm ET at Little Caesars Arena, in Detroit, MI, with TNT providing the broadcast coverage.

Panthers vs Red Wings Prediction and Picks

I’m taking under 6 goals as my favorite Panthers vs Red Wings pick. Florida enters play allowing just 2.5 goals per game, a number that looks a lot better if you only focus on Sergei Bobrovsky starts.

In those three outings so far, the Panthers are undefeated and have outscored the competition 11-5. Two of those contests have stayed under the total, with the lone exception being a 6-2 victory against a Senators team that ranks bottom-six in goals allowed.

I don’t expect a heavy output from the Florida offense tonight, given how well Detroit’s played defensively so far. The Red Wings have surrendered the second-lowest amount of high-danger chances at even strength, and are third in expected goals against in 5-on-5 play.

They’ve been extremely unlucky, however, as their goals against at even strength is double their expected metric. That’s bound to regress, especially with Talbot in net – more on him later.

As for these two offenses, neither has been setting the world on fire 5-on-5. They’re both averaging less than two goals per night at even strength and are each missing key scoring pieces.

FLA vs DET: 5-vs-5 Advanced Stats

The Panthers are without two of their most talented players in Aleksander Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk. The latter isn’t expected back until December, while Barkov is out for the season.

Detroit, meanwhile, lost Lucas Raymond to an injury on Monday, and his status is in doubt for tonight. Raymond led the team in scoring last season, and is one of only two Red Wing players to score more than once so far.

Panthers vs Red Wings Starting Goalies

Back to the starting netminders, who’ve been standing on their heads in the early going. Bobrovsky’s play is a major reason Florida is a serious threat to three-peat in the Stanley Cup odds, as he’s posted a 1.67 GAA and .925 save percentage. He’s also stopped nearly 85% of the high-danger scoring chances he’s faced, which is among the league leaders.

Sergei Bobrovsky vs Cam Talbot Stats

Talbot has also been impressive, posting a 2.11 GAA and an identical save percentage. He’s been a little worse on high-danger chances, stopping only 79% of those so far, but I expect that number to regress back to where it’s been over the last few seasons, around the 84% mark.

Bottom line, both goalies have been rock solid, and I expect that to continue tonight. That’s going to make scoring extremely tough to come by, making under 6 goals the best bet to make.

Panthers vs Red Wings Odds

The Panthers are currently -140 moneyline favorites, and are laying 1.5 goals on the puck line at +180 odds. Detroit comes back as a +125 underdog, while the total sits at 6. That number feels too high given the quality of the goaltending matchup, and the fact that the Red Wings are due some positive regression in the goals against department.

CAESARS SPORTSBOOK

Bet $1 & Double Your Winnings On Your First 20 Wagers!

LOCK IN PROMO

CODE: SBD20X

CODE: SBD20X

SIGNUP PROMO

DOUBLE YOUR
WINNINGS

ON YOUR FIRST 20 WAGERS!

CLAIM OFFER

Odds as of Oct. 15th at Caesars. Check out SBD’s Caesars Sportsbook review to see the available sign-up bonuses.