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Best bet for Game 7 between Leafs and Panthers
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After everything that's gone on in the series between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers, it only seems fitting that we're headed to a Game 7.
The Leafs were destroyed on home ice 6-1 in Game 5, but bounced back with a 2-0 win Friday night in Sunrise, Fla., that evened the series at three games apiece and sent things back to Scotiabank Arena in Toronto for the decider on Sunday night.
As the series enters its final game, the Panthers are small favourites on FanDuel to win Game 7 at -132, a number that comes with a 56.9 per cent implied probability.
Before we get to a best bet from Domenic Padula, let's take a look at how the odds for each team to advance have changed throughout the second-round series:
Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Florida Panthers series betting odds
Maple Leafs v Panthers
| Team | Series Odds before Game 1 | Series Odds after Game 2 | Series Odds after Game 3 | Series Odds after Game 4 | Series Odds after Game 5 | Series Odds after Game 6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Florida | -176 | +176 | +106 | -200 | -780 | -132 |
| Toronto | +146 | -210 | -128 | +164 | +530 | +110 |
Dom's Game 7 Best Bet
Here we go again.
Panthers versus Maple Leafs in a winner-take-all Game 7.
It doesn't get much better than this.
After failing to hit on a FanDuel Best Bet for the first time in the series in Game 6, I decided to ask everybody I bumped into at the office what the best bet for Game 7 should be.
All of their answers were the same.
They have no idea what to expect.
So, let me try this again.
Carter Verhaeghe has established a reputation as a clutch playoff performer and for good reason.
In his two career Game 7's, he scored two goals and registered four points with a plus-three rating.
In last year's Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals against the Edmonton Oilers, Verhaeghe opened the scoring just 4:17 into the first period, then assisted on Sam Reinhart's winning goal.
Florida's second line has combined for five goals in this series.
Verhaeghe will be leaned on at 5-on-5 and on the top powerplay unit - if we get a powerplay tonight. IYKYK.
I'll go with Verhaeghe 1+ point at -111 as my FanDuel Best Bet for Game 7.