NHL Playoff Previews- Eastern Conference Finals
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Boston Bruins at Tampa Bay Lightning
Spread: Tampa Bay Lightning -1.5
Money Line: Tampa Bay Lightning -135 / Boston Bruins +115
Over/Under: 5.5
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The best-of-seven Eastern Conference Finals matchup between the Boston Bruins and the Tampa Bay Lightning shifts to St. Pete Times Forum for Game 3 on Thursday night with the series all square at one game apiece. The puck is scheduled to drop at 8 p.m. (ET) and the game will be broadcast nationally on VERSUS.
We have a series on our hands after Boston evened things up on Tuesday night with a wild 6-5 victory in Game 2 after losing 5-2 in Saturday’s series opener. The Bruins were a 149 home favorite for both games and the total went ‘over’ the 5.5 goal line in each as well. Boston is now 7-4 as a favorite in the postseason and 2-0 as an underdog. It is 5-3 at home and 4-1 on the road. The total has gone ‘over’ in eight of the 13 games including the last four.
Bruins center Patrice Bergeron missed the first two games and is questionable for this one with a concussion, but Tyler Seguin as come up huge in his absence, especially on Tuesday night when he recorded two goals and two assists. Right winger Michael Ryder added two goals and an assist and David Krejci scored his sixth goal of the playoffs in the win. Boston has now scored five or more goals in four of its last six games.
Goalie Tim Thomas came into this series with a goals-against-average of 2.03 and a .937 save percentage. His numbers have dropped significantly in the first two games of this series against a powerful Tampa Bay offense, but in the third period of Game 2 he made the saves when he had to in order to preserve the win.
Tampa Bay has been firing on all cylinders since escaping its opening round series against Pittsburgh with a dramatic 1-0 victory in Game 7 as a 115 road underdog. The Lightning rolled to a four-game sweep of Washington in the semifinals and after the first two games of this series are 2-2 as a favorite, but an impressive 7-2 as an underdog. Tampa is 6-2 on the road this postseason and 3-2 at home. The total has gone ‘over’ in eight of its 13 games and in five of its last six.
Martin St. Louis continues to be a force in the postseason with a team-high seven goals and nine assists. He is joined by Vincent LeCavalier (six goals and 10 assists) and Sean Bergenheim (eight goals and two assists) to form a scoring machine that is averaging 3.69 goals a game. The Lightning have been especially good on the power play; capitalizing on close to 26 percent of their opportunities.
Tampa Bay goalie Dwayne Roloson came into this series with impressive numbers as well with a GGA of 2.01 and a .941 save percentage and held true to those numbers in Game 1. Tuesday night things unraveled quickly as he gave up six goals on just 27 shots and was replaced by Mike Smith in the third period. It will be interesting to see how he responds to this meltdown back on home ice in this game.
Head-to-head, the Bruins lost the first of four regular season matchups 3-1 as a 129 road favorite, but went on to win the next three, including both games at home. The total was evenly split 2-2 with a 5.5 goal line for all four games.
The odds makers have the Tampa Bay Lightning as a -1.5 point favorite with an over/under of 5.5.
Check out the latest NHL Hockey Odds here.
Prediction: This time around Tampa should open as a slight home favorite and remains a solid pick to regain the edge in this series with a win in a game that stays ‘under’ the total as both goalies begin to tighten things up.
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