Canucks Fight for Survival in Game 5 vs Golden Knights

The Vancouver Canucks have run out of chances to recapture their magic from Game 3 as they face elimination at the hands of the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday evening. The Canucks have been out-chanced and outshot in every game of the series while the scoring depth they enjoyed early in the playoffs seems to have dried up.

Sportsbook Odds Analysis

The line opened with the Golden Knights as favorites at -238. That number can now be found between -213 and -240 depending on the book. The total opened at 6.5 and has settled at 6 across the board.

Vancouver News & Notes

Vancouver Canucks goalie Jacob Markstrom has been one of the stars of the team’s playoff run thus far, but his play of late has been less than inspiring as his save percentage has now dipped to .894 for the series. However, he is capable of stealing games on his own and may be counted on to do so in Game 5 with the season on the line for Vancouver.

Throughout the playoffs, the Canucks had an abundance of scoring from their depth players that propelled the team through the qualifying stage and its first-round matchup. That scoring has vanished. Only four players on the Canucks have scored a goal in the series (Pettersson, Horvat, Toffoli, Pearson) while only eight players have recorded at least one point. Young star Brock Boeser has been particularly disappointing with just one assist through four games.

Vegas News & Notes

Amid a goalie controversy that may have been a death knell for other teams, the Vegas Golden Knights continue their torrid pace through the playoffs regardless of who is between the pipes. The Knights have outscored the Canucks 15-8 in the series and have out-chanced them 84-51 over the last three games. In Game 4, Vegas held the Canucks to just 13 scoring chances while creating 31 of their own for a series-high 70.45 percent share of the chances.

It may not matter who ends up in net if the Knights continue their dominant play, but Robin Lehner has been the superior goalie throughout the playoffs. Lehner is 7-2 and sports a .921 save percentage while Marc-Andre Fleury is 3-0 with a lackluster .893 save percentage.

Winger Max Pacioretty has come on lately for Vegas with four goals in the series and seven points in eight playoff games since returning from injury.

Betting Pick: Vegas -230

The number is high, so bettors are not getting great value picking the Golden Knights, but they are simply the better team and have been dominant throughout the series and playoffs. We like the Knights to finish off the series in Game 5.