The Columbus Blue Jackets (+190 to win the Stanley Cup) are considered as the darlings of this wild 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs, and there seems to be nothing that’s making them feel threatened. After all, they were the ones to destroyed the Tampa Bay Lightning in a shocking sweep fashion in the first round. Now, they will look to go up 3-1 in the series against the Boston Bruins (+270), who have zero intentions of falling down that dreaded playoff hole.
Betting on the Boston Bruins (49-24-9, Regular Season)
The Bruins’ backs are now against the wall, but there’s still no need to push the panic button in Beantown. However, they may have to worry about missing one of their most important players in Game 4, with Brad Marchand possibly receiving at least a call from the NHL office after a cheap shot he made at a Blue Jackets player was caught by cameras, but wasn’t by the referees at the time. In any case, the Bruins will have to find a way to silence Columbus’ power play unit. The Blue Jackets scored another goal on the man advantage in Game 3, giving them three such goals over the last two games. It’s either Boston has to be more disciplined to avoid the penalty box or their penalty kill will have to step up. The Bruins are only ninth among all teams that made the postseason with a 77.8 penalty kill percentage.
The Bruins are 4-2 in their last six road games.
Betting on the Columbus Blue Jackets (47-31-4, Regular Season)
The Blue Jackets are riding a momentum to Game 4, which is quite a boost for them, as Tuesday’s win made sure that they will still make a return trip to Columbus regardless of the outcome of this coming Thursday’s game. As mentioned earlier, the Blue Jackets’ special teams have risen to the occasion with three power play goals over the last two games. In fact, they are tops in the playoffs with a 38.1 power play percentage. They are tied for second overall in the playoffs with eight goals on the man advantage. However, Columbus needs its even-strength attack to improve. After getting outshot by Boston in Game 3, 37-34, the Blue Jackets now have a 44.9 shot attempts percentage, the second worst among playoff teams and worst out of all the remaining teams in contention for the Stanley Cup. That highlights the sensational job Sergei Bobrovsky is doing in front of the net. He is 6-1 with a 1.88 GAA and .937 SV% in seven starts this postseason.
The Blue Jackets are 53-36-0 against the spread (ATS) on the season, covering 59.55% of the time.
