Vancouver Canucks at Boston Bruins Pick
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The 2011 Stanley Cup Finals took an ugly turn in Game 3 on Monday night, when Vancouver’s Aaron Rome laid a season-ending hit on the Bruins’ Nathan Horton that incensed Boston fans and fueled a Bruins’ goal scoring fury.
Date/Time: Wednesday, June 8, 8:00 P.M. ET
Venue: Rogers Arena in Vancouver, Canada
Broadcast: NBC
Vancouver Canucks at Boston Bruins Betting Lines
Money Line: Vancouver -105, Boston -125
Spread: Bruins-1 ½
Over/Under: 5
The violent collision left Horton with a severe concussion, while Rome received a four-game suspension—the longest in Stanley Cup finals history—beginning with the pivotal Game 4 on Wednesday night.
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In typical Boston fashion, the Bruins returned from the incident after the first intermission, and busted out of a three-game offensive slump, battering the Canucks defense, scoring four goals in the next twenty minutes, en route to an 8-1 victory that trimmed Vancouver’s series lead to 2-1.
It was the highest-scoring performance in a finals game in 15 years, and Boston’s highest-scoring playoff game since getting nine goals on April 20, 1983. The Bruins were one goal shy of equaling the finals record of nine goals, set by Detroit in Game 2 of the 1936 series and matched by Toronto six years later in Game 5.
Rome’s hit on Horton may have quite possibly changed an otherwise defense-dominated series that featured just six total goals in the first two games, into a wide-open free-for-all.
Mark Recchi scored two goals for the Bruins, as Boston added four more goals in the final 8 1/2 minutes of the third, including a short-hander by Daniel Paille.
Recchi, Chris Kelly, and Michael Ryder—who finished with three points—scored in the final 2 1/2 minutes as the Bruins avoided an uncomfortable 0-3 series deficit.
The Canucks escaped Thomas’ shutout bid when Jannik Hansen scored with 6:07 remaining.
But it wasn’t just the Boston offense that went off, it was the defense as well, holding the NHL’s best power play scoreless in eight chances.
Boston goalie Tim Thomas notched his 13th playoff win with a 40-save performance in Game 3 after playing every minute of the Bruins’ first 21 playoff games, and is 13-8. Meanwhile, the Canucks’ Robert Luongo made 30 saves on the night, but the Conn Smythe Trophy considerations are now a big question mark after Monday’s embarrassing performance.
The contest disintegrated into a prolonged brawl, with nine misconduct penalties and 118 penalty minutes in the third period alone.
The odds makers have the Boston Bruins as a -1.5 point favorite with an over/under of 5.
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Matt’s Free Prediction: Boston – It wasn’t surprising that the Bruins won Game 3—they have Game 3 in all four of their postseason series. Now they will have to carry that momentum into Game 4, as the Canucks are going to regroup and come into Wednesday’s contest looking to redeem themselves from Monday’s meltdown. Even so, I expect the Bruins to win this one, behind an unforgetting and raucous Boston crowd.
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Boston Bruins Betting Trends:
- Boston is 13-6 SU in its last 19 games
- Boston is 8-1 SU in its last 9 games at home
- The total has gone OVER in 6 of Boston’s last 8 games at home
- Boston is 4-2 SU in its last 6 games when playing at home against Vancouver
Vancouver Canucks Betting Trends:
- Vancouver is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games
- The total has gone OVER in 4 of Vancouver’s last 5 games on the road
- Vancouver is 15-5 SU in its last 20 games on the road
- Vancouver is 8-12-3 SU in its last 23 games ,when playing Boston
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