The Boston Bruins are a win away from making a return to the Stanley Cup Finals after notching their third victory in a row in the 2019 NHL Eastern Conference Finals over the Carolina Hurricanes. It’s not over until it’s over, and we’ve seen teams win a series after going down a 0-3 hole. Will the Canes extend their season? Or will Boston finish it?
The Bruins are -120 to win Game 4 and -125 to win the Stanley Cup. The Hurricanes are priced EVEN in Game 4 and +4000 to win the Cup.
Betting on the Boston Bruins (49-24-9 Regular Season)
Tukka Rask was a rock in front of the net for Boston in Game 3. The netminder grabbed first star honors with his sensational goaltending in the 2-1 win over the Hurricanes, turning away 35 shots on 36 shots faced. Rask was phenomenal in handling the aggressiveness of Carolina, and it clearly manifested in the way he helped his team blank the Hurricanes in five power-play opportunities. With Rask shining between the pipes, Boston didn’t need to have a brilliant offensive night, though, it was nice for the Bruins to see Brad Marchand finally find the back of the net in the series with a goal in Game 3. Marchand now has a goal and two assists in the last three games. Boston is getting offensive production from top to bottom. Even the defensive pairing of Matt Grzelcyk and Connor Clifton has a total of three goals and two assists in the last five games.
The Bruins, who are averaging 3.31 goals per game in the playoffs, are 5-1 in their last six games away from Beantown.
Betting on the Carolina Hurricanes (46-29-7 Regular Season)
The Hurricanes showed renewed energy in Game 3 after not being satisfied with their efforts in the first two games of the series against Boston, but it did not matter, as they lost their third in a row to the Bruins. Carolina outshot the Bruins in Game 3, 36-31, but were still evidently sloppy. They had 15 giveaways, while Boston only had five. Carolina also wasted plenty of chances. They had four power play opportunities in the first period, which includes a 5-on-3 advantage that lasted 46 seconds, but couldn’t slip past Rask. Speaking of which, the Hurricanes opted to start Curtis McElhinney over Games 1 and 2 starter Petr Mrazek. McElhinney was solid, stopping 29 shots on 31 faced, but it remains uncertain whether Carolina will use him again in Game 4. Carolina only has a poor power play success rate of 10 percent in the playoffs – third worst among all teams that made the postseason.
The over is 3-1 in Carolina’s last four home games.
