The Boston Bruins hope to avoid elimination against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Amalie Arena in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals. NBC will showcase the game, which gets going at 3 p.m. ET on Sunday, May 6.
Boston Bruins vs. Tampa Bay Lightning Odds
Tampa Bay (-175) is currently favored over Boston (+155), and the oddsmakers have put the Over/Under (O/U) at an even 6 goals. The line for betting that total stands at -120 for the under and +100 for the over.
The Lightning are 61-30 straight up (SU) and have netted moneyline bettors 12.8 units this season. That win percentage, ranked first in the league so far in this young season, is a solid improvement compared to how the team performed during last year’s regular season (42-40). Through 91 regular season outings, 54 of the team’s games have gone over the total, while 34 have gone under and just three have pushed. The team is 33-13 SU at home this season.
Tampa Bay’s offensive skaters attempted 32.7 shots per game in the regular season, resulting in 3.6 goals per outing (ranked first overall in the NHL). In the playoffs, the club’s attempting an average of 33.3 shots on goal 3.6 goals per game.
Following a regular season where they scored on 24.2 percent of all power-play chances (the third-strongest), the Lightning have connected on 25.7 percent of their power plays in the postseason. Their penalty kill has gone from 75.9 percent in the regular season to 75.0 percent in the playoffs.
Sporting a .920 save percentage and 29.2 saves per game, Andrei Vasilevskiy (51-23-3) has been the primary option in goal for the Lightning this season. If the Bolts choose to give him a breather, however, head coach Jon Cooper could turn to Louis Domingue (7-12-12 record, .894 save percentage, 3.41 goals against average).
Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos will each spearhead the attack for the Lightning. Kucherov (111 points) has tallied 45 goals and 66 assists and has recorded multiple points in 34 different games this year. Stamkos has 30 goals and 65 assists to his name and has notched a point in 58 contests.
On the other side of the rink, Boston is 55-38 straight up (SU) and has earned 1.0 unit for moneyline bettors this season. A total of 45 of its games have gone under the total, while 42 have gone over and just six have pushed. As the visiting team, Boston is 24-22 SU.
Boston has scored on 24.9 percent of its power play chances this year, a figure that’s good enough for fourth-best in the league. On the other hand, its penalty kill unit is ranked third overall and it’s successfully killed off 82.7 percent of all penalties.
Boston’s skaters have been penalized 3.8 times per game this season, and 4.8 per game over their last five contests. The team has been forced to defend opponent power plays just 6.8 minutes per contest over their last five road games.
Tuukka Rask (.915 save percentage and 2.46 goals against average) has been the primary option in goal for Boston. Rask is averaging 25.8 saves per game and has 39 wins, 26 losses, and six overtime losses to his credit.
For the visiting Bruins, the offense will run through Brad Marchand (38 goals, 64 assists) and David Pastrnak (41 goals, 59 assists).
Boston Bruins vs. Tampa Bay Lightning Free Picks
Free NHL Pick: SU Winner – Lightning, O/U – Over
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Notes
Betting Trends
The total has gone over in three of Boston’s last five games.
Boston has managed 28.0 shot attempts per game over its last five road games while Tampa Bay is averaging 32.4 shots per game over its last five home outings.
Over Tampa Bay’s last ten outings, eight of them have been decided by two or more goals (the team is 6-2 in those games).
Boston skaters have accounted for the eighth-most hits in the league (24.2 per game).
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