A controversial non-call late in Game 5 helped push St. Louis to a 2-1 victory and is now one game away from lifting Lord Stanley’s Cup. Jordan Binnington made 38 saves in Game 5 and his Blues are a -125 to end the series with the Bruins coming back at -105 and the total opened at 5 goals.
Standout Stats
- St. Louis is 6-6 SU and 2-10 ATS through its 12 home games in the playoffs. The Blues have had an average winning margin of 1.67 in those contests. They split the two home games with the Bruins in this series, with Boston winning the first one 7-2 and St. Louis claiming the second 4-2.
- Boston is 7-3 SU and 9-1 ATS in its 10 road games in the postseason. The Bruins have had an average winning margin of 2.86 in those matches.
- The total has gone UNDER in six of the Bruins’ 10 away games with an average combined score of 5.4. Conversely, the total has gone OVER in six of the Blues’ 12 home games with an average combined score of 5.58. The total went OVER in the two games at the Enterprise Center in this series.
- Boston’s Sportsbook has been clicking at 31.6 percent in the finals, scoring six goals on 19 opportunities, but failed to convert on three opportunities in Game 5. There was a late non-call on Tyler Bozak that could have swung the tide a bit.
- St. Louis’ Sportsbook is converting at just 7.1 percent in this series, notching one goal on 14 attempts. That lone Sportsbook goal came in Game 3 at the Enterprise Center.
- The teams have been very evenly matched through the first five games with the Blues tallying 13 goals and the B’s pouring in 16. Additionally, St. Louis has directed 145 shots toward Tuukka Rask and Boston has taken 147 shots on Jordan Binnington and Jake Allen.
- The Bruins’ top line of Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak have combined for just one 5-on-5 point thus far and that came on a Marchand empty netter in Game 1.
- Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask has a 2.39 goals against average and a .917 save percentage in the Cup finals. Meanwhile, Blues netminder Jordan Binnington has a 2.85 goals against average and a .908 save percentage.
- St. Louis will be without fourth-liner Ivan Barbashev after receiving a one-game suspension for his high hit on Marcus Johansson in Game 5.
My Best Bet for Boston vs St. Louis
Boston -105
The Bruins have definitely played better on the road than they have at home in this series and in the playoffs overall, falling just three times, once to Toronto, once to Columbus and in Game 4 of this series with St. Louis. Meanwhile, the Blues have done just enough to get by at the Enterprise Center with four of their six home wins coming by just one goal. Boston hasn’t had a three-game losing slide since mid-March and I anticipate it to come out flying and force a Game 7.
