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00:00from the southernmost point of the National Hockey League. We
00:06now go to the northern most point in the NHL. It is game
00:10number three of the 2024 Stanley Cup final in a change
00:14of venue for the first time from sunny sunrise, Florida all
00:19the way up to Edmonton, Alberta. The Oilers play host
00:23tonight to the Florida Panthers in an 0-2 deficit trying to
00:26eke out their first victory of this cup final to get you set
00:29for game three in the remainder of this Stanley Cup final.
00:33However, much longer it goes Casey Hudson is here on this
00:37Thursday on the early line to break it all down. Casey. Thank
00:41you so much as always for taking the time to join us here
00:44on TEL, of course, no better morning than joining my
00:48favorite duo and to just talk more hockey. It's almost done.
00:51It's a it's a beautiful thing. Hopefully we have more hockey
00:54to talk after more than like 545 games here in the Stanley
00:59Cup final because so far Casey it hasn't been the most
01:02optimistic picture for the Oilers Florida dominant as you
01:07would expect in both of the games on their home ice to
01:10start this series three. Nothing the shut out and the
01:13clean sheet for Sergei Bobrovsky in game number 14 to
01:16one the victory scoring the final four goals of the game
01:20after the Oilers opened up the scoring in game number two
01:23earlier this week. So Florida the series favorite favorite in
01:27both of the two games in sunrise. They win on home ice.
01:31Maybe we expected that, but three goal margins in both. How
01:35surprised were you Casey? I wasn't entirely too surprised.
01:40I know that a lot of people worry about swinging with the
01:43favorites to flick out the gate, but again, the Florida
01:45Panthers stronger defense stronger goaltending and then
01:49they just showed that actually they can score heading into
01:52this series matchup. They only had about a tenth of a goal
01:55less than the Oilers in this high octane offense that
01:58everyone has talked about. I think the bigger narrative was
02:01what is Conor McDavid going to do in this situation and while
02:04he's trying to throw his team on his back. We have seen the
02:06Florida Panthers minimize the role of X factors from the
02:09Lightning to the Bruins to the Rangers and the top scoring
02:13line in the NHL. So I think I was expecting them to rise to
02:16the occasion and they've done just that and they showed that
02:19game one was not a karmic fluke as Conor McDavid kind of tried
02:22to point out from how they ended up closing out their
02:25Western Conference series to how the Florida Panthers took
02:27game one. Take a look at the NBA 3-0 series lead for the
02:32Boston Celtics. We hope that the Edmonton Oilers don't face
02:35that same thing. Now granted if we take a look at the odds, the
02:38Dandle Sportsbook actually opened up the Oilers for game
02:41number three as a minus 125 favorite. That now sits at a
02:44minus 138 price in a total that sits at five and a half.
02:48Before we get into the details of the game itself, obviously
02:51key injury situations that we watch in the NBA with Chris
02:54Steps Porzingis. Will he play or not in game number three? He
02:57didn't play. Markoff, one of the best two-way centers in
03:00hockey. Casey, what's the latest on him with his ability
03:03to possibly play tonight? Full participation yesterday down in
03:07sunrise. No issue. No extra cushion to protect his jaw,
03:13protect his face. He looked perfectly good to go. So it's
03:16really hard to pull these guys out of the lineup, especially
03:18in any sort of Stanley Cup situation. I know with the
03:21Lightning, we had guys getting rods in their legs just to
03:23prepare for a potential game six. So Markoff will be good to
03:26go and look even if he's not as stout as he has been in game
03:30one and two, we have to remember the Florida Panthers
03:32don't have one shutdown line. They have two shutdown lines
03:35and they have other guys that can step up and help kind of
03:38secure that defensive role that Markoff has been tremendous in
03:41in this series. So Casey, the Oilers booked as a home favorite
03:46tonight in game number three. We know the Rodgers place is
03:49going to be rocking up there in Edmonton. If the Oilers are
03:53going to win their first game of this set, if they are going
03:56to make good on the minus 138 Moneyline price as of this
04:01moment, what is the key thing that Edmonton has to change to
04:04win its first game of this 2024 Cup final? They're going to
04:09have to get a little creative with scoring the surprising
04:12thing with their ability to score and how many goals they
04:15typically wrap up against their opponent is the fact that they
04:17haven't been able to solve. He's really good down low.
04:21He's really good at protecting the net and spreading himself
04:24pretty wide. They haven't been able to get the puck over his
04:26shoulder. It kind of hits some top shelf situations, so they
04:29do have to get creative, but something else that the Panthers
04:31are doing very well is that they're keeping them out of the
04:34middle of the ice. They're going to have to kind of level
04:36up their forecheck. They're going to have to try to get a
04:38little tougher in front of the net if they're going to get any
04:40scoring opportunities and you're talking about top scorers
04:44amongst the Edmonton Oilers top three guys and not many high
04:47danger shots. So again, it just comes back to creativity.
04:50It comes back to kind of pulling the Panthers into their
04:53game a little bit more, but they're going to have to get
04:55into the middle of the ice and they're going to have to get in
04:57front of that net if they're going to pick up goals and take
04:59game three. Connor McDavid, no doubt about it's going to have
05:02to step it up here and also with Barkov back makes that
05:05effort just a little bit tougher. Anytime goal scoring
05:08market tonight for him a plus 135 price. Anytime assist at a
05:11minus 295 and just to record a point minus 620, which is
05:18absolutely incredible. Talk to us about Connor McDavid moving
05:21forward and also any other goal scorers that you're taking a
05:24look in the market tonight here. Yeah. Well heading into
05:28this series, we're talking about a guy that had 31 points
05:30through 18 games and then what one point maybe two so far. So
05:34it's crazy where Connor McDavid's production has gone,
05:37but it can't just be the Connor McDavid show. We have to see
05:40the depth that we started to see a little bit in some of
05:43these rounds here and the good news is when it comes to home
05:46ice, we saw Connor McDavid have that game winning goal to push
05:49his team through. We know that a lot of these guys are gamers
05:51on home ice. So McDavid, I look at him in the assist column
05:55because he's going to try to set up his teammates and find
05:57those passing lanes that are so hard to get against the Panthers.
06:00So definitely look at him for assist when it comes to those
06:02goal scorers. I was at eight goals on home ice throughout
06:05the playoff series and he's somebody who's been quite
06:08silent throughout this playoff series. Thus far. Then you've
06:11got
06:13Rochard. He's been the guy who's been most consistent with
06:15getting shots on goal and that they're going to have to ramp
06:18that up tonight. Again. They're going to have to really pepper
06:21Hrabowski to try to get a goal past him and get that
06:23creativity going. So I like Rochard to pick up a goal. I
06:26like Hyman to pick up a goal. I like McDavid in that assist
06:29column and it'll be interesting to see if Corey Perry gets back
06:32in the lineup tonight. It's been interesting to see him as
06:34a healthy scratch, but he has that veteran presence in these
06:37particular games and he has had a couple assists throughout
06:40the round. So if he comes back into the lineup, we can see him
06:43maybe pick up an assist and kind of help out his team. But
06:46McDavid love him for assist Rochard and Hyman check them
06:49out for goals because they've been the most consistent on
06:51home ice.
06:52On the only goal that Edmonton has scored so far in the Stanley
06:55Cup final in these first two games. Connor McDavid did have
06:59an assist as did Evan Bouchard, who has a plus 450 number
07:03tonight to tickle the twine. The three shortest goal scorer
07:06odds all from Edmonton, but it's been very difficult Casey
07:10as you shared to get one past the man known as Bob Sergei
07:14Bobrovsky has been sensational in this Stanley Cup final. He
07:18is now the hefty odds on favorite to win the Colin Smythe
07:21award as well. Goal tending matchup tonight. I think it's
07:25fair to say that Bob has the advantage. Can Edmonton make him
07:29look pedestrian once again?
07:31Well, no, I think that Bob is just he's he's kind of solve
07:36this and what is happening to help him out even more is how
07:39well the defense is playing in front of him. They're making
07:41sure that any pucks that come at him are very clear so that he
07:45has an opportunity to stop it. Boilers are not getting much
07:48traffic in front of Bob, but I like them to maybe have a bit
07:51more shaves. Both of these goaltenders. We've seen this
07:54kind of lopsided situation where one team has under 20 shots on
07:59goal and then it kind of switched for game two. There's
08:02something out there that has Skinner as well as Bobrovsky to
08:04have 20 plus saves. I'm actually a big fan of this at minus 210
08:08because I think that both teams are going to try to load up in
08:10the shot column and adjust their game a little bit tonight. The
08:14Panthers are looking to be counted out because of their
08:16traveling issues. And of course, there's the pressure for the
08:18Oilers to perform on home ice. So we should definitely see 20
08:21plus shots on goal from both of these guys. Something else that
08:25I like Borowski 20 plus saves as well as a Florida win. This
08:28one's coming at a plus 150. If you want to take a gander at
08:31that, maybe sprinkle a little something on it because as much
08:35pressure as the Oilers have on them tonight, for some reason,
08:37I'm feeling the Panthers for game three. They've just got
08:40about five games on their roster that perform even better on the
08:43road, which is very scary to take into consideration.
08:46Regardless, this team is very hard to distract. So they're
08:49traveling and everything else. I don't think it's going to
08:51change much. So those are my favorite goalie props to keep an
08:54eye on and Skinner for under 25 and a half. So Casey, 30
08:59seconds left in this segment, even less than that. If Florida
09:02wins tonight, is it over in four, maybe five at most? I
09:06would say over in five. I don't see a sweep happening. Not with
09:09Conor McDavid. We've seen him throw his team on his shoulder.
09:11So I think the Oilers at least pick up one win at home. But
09:15for some reason, I'm leaving the Panthers tonight. Also, take a
09:17look at Anton Mungo. His line has been fantastic.
09:21Plays into the break from Casey. Thank you so much for the
09:26early linebacker.