Coyotes vs. Panthers Odds
| Panthers Odds | -270 |
| Coyotes Odds | +225 |
| Over/Under | 6 |
| Time | 9 p.m. ET |
| TV | ESPN+ |
| Odds via DraftKings. Get up-to-the-minute NHL Odds here. | |
The East-leading Florida Panthers will head to the desert to take on the lowly Arizona Coyotes on Friday night at Gila River Arena.
The Panthers enter play tied for the No. 1 seed in the NHL with their intrastate-rival Tampa Bay Lightning and the Washington Capitals with 38 points. Florida is 3-0-1 in its past four games and will play the second of a three-game Western Conference road trip.
On the other hand, Arizona has lost three straight and five of six, most recently a 4-1 defeat against the Dallas Stars on Monday.
The Coyotes did pick up a win Thursday when their ownership paid off a tax lien against the City of Glendale, meaning Arizona will be allowed to play home games at Gila River Arena for the remainder of the season. Glendale reportedly had threatened to lock the Coyotes out if the full payment was not received by December 20th.
Florida Panthers
The Panthers are 10-4-4 under coach Andrew Brunette and just got two major cogs back in captain Aleksander Barkov and defenseman Gustav Forsling in their 4-3 overtime loss to the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday.
Florida has been the most dominant home team in the NHL with a 14-1 record in games played at BB&T Center but has lost seven of its 10 games away from Sunrise. Granted, six of those losses have come against teams currently occupying playoff spots, but this is still noteworthy nevertheless.
The Panthers' advanced metrics suggest they've been unlucky away from home since they have the second-best all-situation Expected-Goals percentage (54.8) in road games but just the 25th-best road PDO in the league (.976).
Arizona Coyotes
The Coyotes have just 12 points in 25 games this season and have lost each of their past three games by at least three goals. It's the latest awful stretch in a season that's been an unmitigated disaster on and off the ice.
Arizona has scored the second-fewest goals (44) and allowed the second-most (93). They rank dead last in the league in all-situation goal percentage (32.6), Corsi-for percentage (44.0), Expected-Goals percentage (39.5), High-Danger Chance percentage (40.6), shooting percentage (5.9) and PDO (96.1).
All that would be embarrassing itself, but add to it Arizona's seemingly endless ownership issues, and the fact Glendale announced it will opt out of the team's arena deal at the end of this season — meaning this is likely the final year of hockey in the desert — and it has to be almost to much to bear for Coyotes fans.
At least the Coyotes look great in those classic Kachina uniforms.
Coyotes vs. Panthers Pick
I haven't had much luck with road puck-line bets this season, particularly of late, but if you're not going to bet the best team in the NHL to beat the worst by more than a goal, then when will you ever?
Pick: Florida -1.5 (-110)
