Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final tonight between the Bruins and the Blues presents a strong betting opportunity as it looks damn close to being a must-win for St. Louis.
Boston has shown a killer instinct this postseason and it is at its best when it smells blood. The Bruins are 3-0 in Game 4s so far this postseason (all have been on the road).
Up 3-2 over the Blue Jackets in Round 2, they closed out Columbus with a 3-0 victory on the road to end the series in six. Up 2-0 over the Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Finals, they went into Carolina and won Games 3 and 4 to clinch it.
Still, the Blues are moneyline favorites tonight at -120.
If you bet $20 on the Bruins at +100 to win tonight, you would win $20 with a payout of $40.
To bet on tonight’s Cup Final Game 4 and to receive up to $1,000 in risk free bets through MetroBet and PointsBet click the Bet Now button below.
Another popular hockey bet is over – under totals. For instance, tonight’s Game 4 has an over – under of 5.5 goals scored at most sportsbooks. The Bruins and Blues have hit the over in two of the three games played so far.
To bet on the over – under in tonight’s Game 4 and receive up to $1,000 in risk free bets through MetroBet and PointsBet click the Bet Now button below.
The Bruins are halfway there, with two wins in the 2019 Stanley Cup Final in the books and two more to go to.
Tonight’s Game 4 in St. Louis (8 p.m, NBC) will be critical for both the Bruins and Blues as teams that go up 3-1 in a Stanley Cup playoff series wind up winning the series 89.3 percent of the time. If St. Louis wins tonight, of course, it’s a whole new series and becomes a best-of-three.
The Bruins are 3-0 in Game 4s so far this postseason (all have been on the road) and have shown a killer instinct when they smell blood. Up 3-2 over the Blue Jackets in Round 2, they closed out Columbus with a 3-0 victory on the road to end the series in six. Up 2-0 over the Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Finals, they went into Carolina and won Games 3 and 4 to clinch it.
Make no mistake, the B’s can effectively end the series tonight with a win and make Thursday’s Game 5 in Boston a glorified coronation.
Feel the power
The Bruins were absolutely perfect on the power-play in Saturday night’s 7-2 drubbing of the Blues as they netted four power-play goals on all four of their power-play shots.
St. Louis, which had been the least penalized team in the Cup playoffs heading into the series, knows that it can’t keep making mistakes. The Bruins have proven to be well capable of taking advantage.
“We do have to limit the penalties,” Blues coach Craig Berube said. “We know they have a dangerous power play. We’ve been flirting with danger the whole series and it burnt us. But in say that we’ve got to do a better job killing penalties. We didn’t do it. That’s why they won [Game 3].”
The Bruins’ top line finally got going in Game 3 as Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak both found the net.
St. Louis actually had five power-play opportunities in Game 3 but only made it count just once.
The Bruins’ rock
It seems like eons ago that people were making the case that Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington was the “hotter” goaltender heading into the series.
Binnington was chased from the game on Saturday night as he gave up five goals on 19 shots, with Berube bringing in Jake Allen in relief in the second period.
On the flip side, it seems impossible that Rask would ever be lifted from a game right now given how tremendous he’s been over the course of the past two months. He made 27 saves in Game 3 Saturday night, and he hasn’t allowed more than three goals in a game since Game 4 of the Toronto series back on April 17 (a 6-4 Bruins win).
Nasty boys
Game 3 got quite ugly as the Blues went head hunting early and often. David Backes was blasted up high by Sammy Blais and Brayden Schenn went bum over tea kettle in trying to blast Pastrnak in the first period.
“To be honest I didn’t see it until the last second,” Pastrnak said of Schenn’s airborne tactics to NBC Sports Boston. “They want to play physical and we want to play physical. I was asking for that hit, I guess, cutting it to the middle. It’s playoff hockey at least they didn’t take me out of the game at all. I was lucky I saw him.”
