BIG AL's STANLEY CUP GAME 1 WINNER (16-2 RUN)

At 8 pm, on Saturday, our selection is on the Florida Panthers over the Vegas Golden Knights.  The Panthers were almost eliminated from the playoffs with 1 second to go in their opening-round Game 5 vs. Boston.  The Bruins were already up 3 games to 1, and the game was tied at 3 when Boston forward Brad Marchand skated in on Sergei Bobrovsky.  But the 2-time Vezina Trophy winner made the save (one of 43 for the game), and the Panthers won, 4-3, at 6:05 into the overtime session.  That improbable victory (Boston was a -270 favorite in the Game 4) triggered an even more improbable streak by the 8th-seeded Panthers.  Florida has now won 11 of its last 12 games (vs. the top shelf Bruins, Maple Leafs and Hurricanes).  And the Bruins, Leafs and 'Canes owned the 1st, 2nd and 4th-best records in the regular season.  Here, the Panthers will attempt to upset the team with the 5th-best regular season record.  Vegas's path to the finals (by virtue of its #1 seed in the West) was understandably easier, and it ousted the league's 6th (Edmonton), 8th (Dallas) and 14th-best (Jets) teams to earn this berth in the Stanley Cup.  Many bettors will shy away from the red-hot Panthers, under the belief that the 10 days since their last game will have cooled off any momentum.  But I've never been on that side of the "rest vs rust" debate in pro sports.  Indeed, we just saw the Denver Nuggets (who had the exact same amount of time off before their NBA Game 1) annihilate the Miami Heat, 104-93.  So, I'm perfectly fine with the Panthers' long layoff, and don't believe we'll see any "rust" tonight.  The Golden Knights do come into this game off a 6-0 blowout win to close out the Dallas Stars, but are a soft 7-11 (minus 11.5 net games) following a win by more than 4 goals, and are 23-22 (minus 8.5 net games) off a shutout win.  Take the underdog Panthers.  Good luck, as always...Al McMordie.