Friday's Stanley Cup Playoffs Eastern Conference Best Bets
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The Boston Bruins will have to hope that shifting the series home will work in their favor, but their numbers against Carolina don’t inspire hope.
Below, you can look at both Eastern Conference games on tonight’s NHL slate and at some of our best bets on the FanDuel Sportsbook.
Carolina Hurricanes (+108) vs Boston Bruins (-130) Total: 5.5 (O-114, U-106)
There are no two ways around it, the Hurricanes have bullied the Bruins this year, outscoring them 26-4 in five matchups this season, including the first two games of the playoffs. The defensive style that the Hurricanes bring to the table and how they execute it doesn’t work well with what the Bruins typically use to find success and we’re almost at the point where it’s hard to see that changing anytime in this series.
You can’t expect the Bruins to roll over as the series shifts to their home turf and they will have last change in order to dictate matchups, which could mean putting the band back together with the David Pastrnak, Patrice Bergeron, and Brad Marchand line. The Hurricanes have been able to get contributions from up and down their lineup, which has been the difference in this series, along with Boston’s lack of offense. Even with the Bruins likely finding some momentum at home, it’s too hard to ignore what the Hurricanes have done to them this season.
Best Bets: Hurricanes moneyline (+108)
Toronto Maple Leafs (+104) vs Tampa Bay Lightning (-115) Total: 6.5 (O+100, U-122)
This series has the potential to be a long one, so it shouldn’t surprise anyone that we saw a split in the first two meetings in Toronto. Those two games saw five and eight goals scored, which shows how explosive both team’s offenses are. Andrei Vasileskiy was the difference-maker in Game 2, stopping 31 of 34 shots in the net including some big saves that helped swing momentum in Tampa’s favor. Even with the big performance from the Lightning goalie in Game 2, we could be on track to see plenty of goals scored in this Game 3, with the series shifting to the Sunshine state.
This feels like a spot that could develop into a track meet and that might make life difficult for the goal judges at both ends of the ice. The Leafs finished the season as the second highest-scoring offense in the NHL, while the Lightning weren’t far behind them in eighth. After both teams were able to score five goals in one of the two matchups, this has the makings of barn burner tonight.
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