NHL Eastern Conference Finals- Game 6
Boston Bruins at Tampa Bay Lightning
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vs.
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Spread: Tampa Bay Lighting -1.5
Money Line: Boston +100, Tampa Bay -120
Over/Under: 5.5
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The Boston Bruins are one win away from a trip to the Stanley Cup Finals and will look to punch their ticket this Wednesday night in Game 6 of their Eastern Conference Finals matchup with the Tampa Bay Lightning. Game time from the St. Pete Times Forum is set for 8 p.m. (ET) and it will be broadcast nationally on VERSUS.
Boston used a couple of early goals and a grinding defense to hammer out a huge 3-1 win in Game 5 on Monday night as a 154 home favorite. The total stayed under the 5.5 goal line. It is now 11-5 overall this postseason. The Bruins are 6-3 at home and 5-2 on the road. They are 8-4 as a favorite and 3-1 as an underdog. The total has gone ‘over’ in nine of the 16 games.
The return of center Patrice Bergeron, after missing the first two games of this series, has been a big part of the Boston’s success against the Lightning. He added an assist in Monday’s game to raise his team-high point total to 15. Nathan Horton is second with seven goals and seven assists and David Krejci has also been productive with seven goals and six assists.
The real hero of Game 5 was Bruin goalie Tim Thomas, who stopped 33 of Tampa’s 34 shots to preserve the win after his team could only generate a total of 19 shots on goal. He has had an up and down series; giving up five goals in three different games, but still has a knack of coming up big when the game is on the line.
The loss in Game 5 dropped Tampa Bay to 10-6 overall in the postseason and 6-3 on the road. The Lightning are 3-3 as a favorite and 7-3 as an underdog. They are 4-3 at home and he total has gone ‘over’ in nine of the 16 games.
Consistency on offense has been Tampa’s biggest problem against the Bruins. It scored a total of 10 goals in its two wins, but has only managed to score one goal in Games 3 and 5 combined. Simon Gagne got the Lightning on the board first on Monday night with his fifth goal of the playoffs but that was it from the highest scoring team in the league this postseason. Center Vincent LeCavalier and Martin St. Louis lead the team with 17 points each, but were nowhere to be found in this game.
Play between the pipes has also been an issue for Tampa in this series as it has had to use both Dwayne Roloson and Mike Smith to try and keep Boston out of the net. Smith got the call in Game 5, but allowed two goals on 19 shots. Look for Roloson to be back in net for this game as he still gives the Lightning the best chance to win, but it could be a game time decision.
Head-to-head, the Bruins were 3-1 against the Lightning in the regular season overall and 1-1 on the road. The total was evenly split 2-2 with a 5.5 goal line for all four games. They are 1-1 on the road in this series with a 2-0 shutout in Game 3 as a 104 underdog and a 5-3 loss in Game 4 as a 107 road dog.
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: Stick with Tampa Bay to take this series the distance with a win on Wednesday, as LeCavalier and St. Louis come up big at home.
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