I came into this series thinking Carolina was going to be able to get to their game faster than Vegas; that held true for all of 20 minutes. The 2nd and 3rd period were lopsided in favor of Vegas as they beat Carolina at their own game winning puck battles, forcing turnovers on the forecheck, and playing a puck possession game. Honestly? I think that can happen again tonight and I show value at +130 or better in this spot. Vegas has already proven they're not content to merely take 1 on the road and feel like the "desperation" is being over compensated for in this spot. Give us the dog as VGK take it back to T-Mobile up 2-0

Getting this total at six is a bit of an overreaction to Game 1's 5-4 score. Carolina has allowed more than two goals just twice in 14 playoff games, and both of those came in the first game of a series after a layoff. I also expect Canes' goaltender Frederik Anderson to get back into form after a rare off night where he allowed five goals on 23 shots. I see more of a low-scoring grinder on Thursday between the two top defenses in the playoffs.

If you would have told me that Carolina was going to score the first two goals of Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final at home, I would have bet my mortgage that the Hurricanes would have beaten Vegas. Thankfully, the banks weren't open after that happened in the opener because then the Canes largely collapsed in a 5-4 loss. Are they really going to lose a second straight at home Thursday? Their last back-to-back losses in Raleigh were at the start of the New Year, and their last B2B losses overall were in mid-January. The Knights got their split.