After dropping back-to-back games in the second round against Columbus, Boston has gone on a tear of winning four straight games, including a 5-2 victory to open the Eastern Conference Final with the Carolina Hurricanes. On the flip side of the things, that 5-2 defeat for Carolina was its first loss since Game 5 of its Sportsbook-round series with the Washington Capitals, snapping a six-game winning streak. Boston is a -150 favorite with Carolina coming back at +130 and the total Sportsbook at 5.5 goals.
Hurricanes vs Bruins Game Center
Standout Stats
- Boston is 9-5 SU and ATS in its 14 playoff games thus far and is currently riding a four-game winning streak. The B's are also 5-3 at home.
- Carolina is 8-4 SU and ATS through its first 12 games of the postseason and had a six-game winning streak ended in Game 1 vs Boston. The Hurricanes are just 3-4 on the road in the playoffs.
- The total has gone OVER in eight of Carolina’s 12 playoff games with an average combined score of 5.67. Conversely, the total has gone UNDER in nine of Boston’s 14 playoff matches with an average combined score of 5.36. The Sportsbook game of this series went OVER with seven goals.
- Boston’s Sportsbook has been a nightmare for opposing teams, clicking at a ridiculous 30 percent thus far and tops the NHL playoffs. Meanwhile, Carolina’s Sportsbook unit is scoring just 12.2 percent of the time.
- The Bruins’ penalty killing has been almost just as good as their Sportsbook, killing 82.5 percent of penalties. Once again, the ‘Canes are toward the bottom with a penalty killing percentage of 73.2.
- Brad Marchand has scored 15 points in the Bruins’ 14 playoff games, which is second in the NHL playoff scoring race. Defenseman Jaccob Slavin leads the point total for the Hurricanes with 11, each of which have been assists.
- Petr Mrazek returned to the net for Carolina in Game 1 after missing two contests with a groin injury, but he stopped just 23-of-27 shots in the 5-2 loss. In the playoffs, he has a respectable .907 save percentage and a 2.40 goals against average.
- Boston’s Tuukka Rask has been playing out of his mind in the playoffs, having very few stumbles and is sporting a .938 save percentage and a 2.02 goals against average.
- The Bruins get defenseman Charlie McAvoy back for Game 2 after he was suspended for the first game of this series because of a high hit in the final game of the Columbus series.
My Best Bet for Carolina vs Boston
UNDER 5.5
Tuukka Rask has been locked in these playoffs and turned away 29-of-31 shots in Game 1 and will have some help in front of him with Charlie McAvoy back in the lineup. Additionally, I anticipate a bit of a bounce-back game for Petr Mrazek after looking a little shaky in his return to the crease following his injury. He was looking strong for the first two periods but the third got away from him and had he stayed on track the UNDER would have been the play to make and I think that’s the wager today.
