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Boston Bruins at Philadelphia Flyers
Saturday, April 30, 2011 at 3:00 pm EST on NBC
Spread: Philadelphia -1.5
Money Line: Boston +115, Philadelphia -125
Over/Under: 5.5
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The Boston Bruins and the Philadelphia Flyers will face-off against one another in the Eastern Conference semifinals for the second year in-a-row with Game 1 set for Saturday afternoon at the Wells Fargo Center. The game is scheduled for 3 p.m. (ET) and it will be broadcast nationally on NBC.
Boston dug itself an early 0-2 hole against Montreal in round one, but bounced back with four wins in the next five games including a thrilling 4-3 overtime victory in Game 7 this past Wednesday night as a 175 home favorite. The total went ‘over’ the 5.5 line in that game, but stayed ‘under’ in four of the other six games.
Last year’s series was a one-way affair at the start after the Bruins bolted out to a 3-0 series lead. Things went completely downhill from there as they proceeded to lose four straight games in an historic collapse. Whether or not Boston suffers any kind of hangover from this remains to be seen, but this did not affect them in the regular season after taking three of four from Philly, including both games on the road.
To gain the advantage in this series, Boston will need strong effort from centers’ Chris Kelly and Patrice Bergerson, who combined for five goals and eight assists against the Canadiens. The Bruins averaged 2.43 goals a game in round one, but that will most likely not be good enough against a much better offensive team in Philadelphia. They will also have to correct their power play after getting shut out by Montreal in all seven games.
Boston goalie Tim Thomas went the distance in round one playing all 454 minutes. He was solid as a rock with a 2.26 goals-against-average and a save percentage of .926. He has actually been solid all year long with a GGA of 2.00 and a .938 save percentage in 55 regular season starts.
Philadelphia averaged 3.14 goals a game against Buffalo, but it will need better consistency from its top scorer’s after getting shutout in two games including a 1-0 loss in Game 1 as a 152 home favorite. The Flyers will also have to do a better job on the power play after converting on just 14.4 percent of their opportunities in round one.
Danny Briere, who tallied six goals and one assist and Claude Giroux, who added a goal and eight assists, did their part, but the Flyers are hoping to have their leading goal scorer in the regular season, Jeff Carter back after suffering a knee injury in Game 4. He is currently listed as questionable for Saturday.
Philadelphia started three different goalies in its first series but has decided to go with Brian Boucher for this game. He started four games and played in six against the Sabres, and while he did look shaky at times, Boucher ended the series with a 2.10 GGA and a save percentage of .934. The Flyers will also have to do a better job at defending the power play after posting a 77.4 percent kill rate in round one.
Boston is 12-11 as an underdog this season and the total has stayed ‘under’ in four of its last seven games. Philadelphia is 38-29 as a favorite and the total has gone ‘over’ in eight of its last 10 games.
Head-to-head, the Bruins are 3-1 in the last four games with the total staying ‘under’ in three of the games.
The odds makers have the Philadelphia Flyers as a -1.5 point favorite with an over/under of 5.5.
Check out the latest NHL Hockey Odds here.
Prediction: This is a golden opportunity for the Flyers to avoid another slow start and they take full advantage by carrying the momentum from their last two games to a victory in Saturday’s Game 1.
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