The Tampa Bay Lightning at Boston Bruins in TD Garden in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals. The game will get started at 7 p.m. ET on Wednesday, May 2 and it is being shown live on NBC Sports Network.
Tampa Bay Lightning at Boston Bruins Odds
Boston heads into the game as the heavy favorite with a -145 moneyline. The line for Tampa Bay sits at +125 and the Over/Under (O/U) has been set at an even 6 goals. The odds for betting that total sit at -120 money on the over and +100 on the under.
Tampa Bay is 59-30 straight up (SU) and has earned moneyline bettors 9.9 units this season. 53 of its outings have gone over the total, while 33 have gone under and just three have pushed. This 2017-18 Lightning team is 26-17 SU on the road.
Following a regular season where they found the net on 24.3 percent of all power-play chances (the third-strongest), the Lightning have been able to score on 26.9 percent of their postseason power plays. Their penalty kill’s gone from 76.6 percent in the regular season to 82.6 percent in the playoffs.
The Lightning’ offensive skaters attempted 32.7 shots per game in the regular season, leading to 3.6 goals per outing (ranked first overall in the NHL). In the postseason, the team’s maintaining an average of 33.6 shots on goal 3.4 goals per game.
With a .920 save percentage and 29.2 saves per game, Andrei Vasilevskiy (49-23-3) has been the best option in goal for Tampa Bay this year. If head coach Jon Cooper decides to rest him, however, Tampa Bay could go with Louis Domingue (7-12-1 record, .894 save percentage, 3.41 goals against average).
Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos will both be relied on to produce for the visiting Lightning. Kucherov (110 points) is up to 44 goals and 66 assists, and has recorded multiple points in 34 different games. Stamkos has 28 goals and 64 assists to his credit (and has notched a point in 57 games).
On the other bench, Boston is 55-36 straight up (SU) and has earned 4.3 units for moneyline bettors this year. 44 of its outings have gone under the total, while 41 have gone over and just six have pushed. This season, the team is 31-14 SU at home.
The Bruins have converted on 24.3 percent of their power play chances this season, a mark that’s good enough for fourth-best in the league. On the other hand, its penalty kill is ranked third overall, and it’s successfully killed off 82.8 percent of all penalties.
Boston skaters have been penalized 3.7 times per game in total this season, 3.6 per game over their last five outings total, and 3.4 per game over their last five home outings. The team has been forced to stave off opponent power plays just 7.0 minutes per game over their last 10 outings.
Tuukka Rask has stopped 25.7 shots per game as the top option in goal for the Bruins. Rask has 39 wins, 24 losses, and five overtime losses to his credit and has maintained a 2.43 goals against average and a .916 save percentage this year.
Brad Marchand (38 goals, 62 assists) will pace the offensive attack for the home team.
Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Boston Bruins Betting Predictions
Pick: SU Winner – Bruins, O/U – Under
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Notes
Betting Trends
The over has hit in three of Boston’s last five games.
Boston’s attempted 32.9 shots per contest overall this season (the eighth-most in the NHL), and 38.4 in their last five home outings.
Over Tampa Bay’s last ten games, nine of them have been decided by two or more goals (the team is 7-2 in those games).
The Bruins this season have registered the eighth-most hits per game (24.0), but the club has averaged 30.4 over their past five games as the home team.
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