The Stanley Cup playoffs got even more interesting last night as two Eastern Conference heavyweights now face 0-2 series holes. The Penguins don’t need to panic quite yet headed home down 2-0 to the Islanders, but things certainly don’t look good for the Lightning as they now head north to Ohio for 2 games in Columbus — quite possibly without Nikita Kucherov.
We enjoyed an easy 2-0 night yesterday, including a sweet cash on the Blue Jackets Team Total Over 2.5 at plus money (sweet because it felt like the whole world was on Tampa). The Opinion on the Sharks/Knights Over 6.5 also hit as the teams combined for 6 goals in the opening frame alone.
The playoffs are a really tough time of year to handicap, especially the opening round, so we’re thrilled to be 4-2 so far and off to a good start with the Stars +1.5 series handicap against Nashville. Speaking of that series, we’d likely be on the Stars +0.5 in regulation time tonight if we weren’t already invested in the series bet. Nashville’s under a lot of pressure to win tonight and, as we saw with the Bolts last night, pressure doesn’t always bring out a team’s best.
We’re going with 1 play tonight, along with a couple of opinions. Thanks for visiting the site today, and good luck!
Odds below are at the time we made the pick.
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Pick > Leafs/Bruins o6 -105
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We lost an Over play in the opener of this series, but we’re going back to the well again here with pretty similar logic. As we noted in the writeup for Game 1, Boston’s had its way offensively with the Leafs recently at TD Garden, scoring at least 4 goals in 7 of 9 home dates with Toronto before Thursday’s 4-1 loss to the Buds.
Although the Bruins ended Game 1 with 38 shots on net, they were noticeably flat and didn’t bring their best effort. Now, of course, they should bring a lot more urgency to the rink as they look to avoid heading to Toronto down 0-2, and we’re still convinced the Leafs can’t shut down Boston when the B’s are bringing everything they’ve got at home.
Toronto had no issue generating scoring opportunities against the Bruins Thursday, stretching the ice with aggressive long passes and earning several breakaways — not to mention a 3-on-1 as the clock expired at the end of the second period. Tuukka Rask struggled down the stretch of the season, posting a save percentage under .880 in his last 11 starts and giving up at least 3 goals in 6 of them. Thursday was the fourth time in 5 playoff games that the Leafs scored at least 3 goals on him in Boston, and we think Toronto gets to him at least twice again tonight.
The Bruins Team Total Over 3.5 +120 is worth a look as well, but we’re more comfortable backing the potential for either of these teams to score at least 4 goals tonight. If that happens, we should cash the Over 6 here at these friendly -105 odds.
Bet this game at 5Dimes – Reduced juice odds on sides and totals!
Opinions:
Stars +0.5 (regulation time) -124
Avalanche/Flames Under 6 -103
Good luck!