Betting news, trends, odds and predictions for from various handicappers and websites
Round 2 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs continues Wednesday night with Game 3 between the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Boston Bruins and also Game 4 between the Vegas Golden Knights and the San Jose Sharks. We help you handicap this pair of games like a pro with our full betting preview.
Tampa Bay Lightning at Boston Bruins (-145, 6)
Series tied 1-1.
The Tampa Bay Lightning made a strong response physically to even the Eastern Conference semifinal series and will try to match that effort when they visit the Boston Bruins on Wednesday night for Game 3. The Lightning totaled 42 hits and center Brayden Point rebounded from a rough series opener (minus-5 rating) to register a goal and three assists in the 4-2 victory Monday in Game 2.
The Lightning have a 67-44 edge in shots over the first two games and the Bruins hope to turn those numbers around at home, where they went 28-8-5 this season - including a pair of wins against Tampa Bay.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network, CBC, TVA
SERIES PRICE (PER LV SUPERBOOK):
LINE MOVES AND BETTING ACTION: The Bruins opened as -135 favorites for Game 3 at home and as of Tuesday night that moneyline is up to -145. 59 percent of early Covers Consensus wagers are on the favored B's. The total hit betting boards at 6 and has yet to move off that openeing number. Check out the complete line history here.
INJURY REPORT:
Lightning - LW Adam Erne (Questionable, Lower Body).
Bruins - D Brandon Carlo (Out For Season, Ankle), LW Anders Bjork (Out For Season, Shoulder).
ABOUT THE LIGHTNING (59-25-3-2, 53-33 O/U): Coach Jon Cooper said he never considered taking Point, Ondrej Palat and Tyler Johnson off the assignment of checking Boston’s top line after Game 1 and the trio responded by each scoring a goal Monday. Tampa Bay has yet to get a point from its top line of J.T. Miller, captain Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov in the series, but the trio registered 12 shots on net combined and Miller had six hits Monday.
ABOUT THE BRUINS (55-24-9-3, 41-44 O/U): Boston’s top line of Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak had four assists Monday after posting three goals and 11 points in Game 1, but should get better matchups on home ice Wednesday. “I know they had a good game, but I think it’s more on us,” Pastrnak told reporters. “We’ve got to be better Wednesday.” Rookie defenseman Charlie McAvoy, who regularly pairs with captain Zdeno Chara, scored his first career playoff goal Monday and has four points to go along with a plus-5 rating in the first nine games of the postseason.
TRENDS:
* Lightning are 17-4 in their last 21 Conference Semifinals games.
* Bruins are 22-6 in their last 28 home games.
* Over is 16-5-2 in Lightning's last 23 road games.
* Over is 11-2-4 in Bruins' last 17 home games.
* Lightning are 7-33-4 in the last 44 meetings in Boston.
Check out a complete list of hot and cold trends, here.
Vegas Golden Knights at San Jose Sharks (-130, 5.5)
Knights leads series 2-1.
The Vegas Golden Knights frittered away a two-goal lead for the second time in as many games and were staring at the possibility of trailing in a playoff series for the first time. William Karlsson would not let it happen, delivering the decisive tally in overtime to give Vegas a 2-1 lead in the Western Conference semifinal series entering Wednesday's Game 4 at the San Jose Sharks.
TV: 10 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network, CBC, TVAS
SERIES PRICE (PER LV SUPERBOOK):
LINE MOVES AND BETTING ACTION: The Sharks opened as -155 home favorites for Game 4 and steady, early action on the Golden Knights has pushed the moneyline down to -130 as of Tuesday night. 54 percent of Covers Consensus wagers are on the underdog Knights. The total hit betting boards at 5.5 and has yet to move. Check out the complete line history here.
INJURY REPORT:
Golden Knights - D Clayton Stoner (Out Indefinitely, Abdominal).
Sharks - RW Joonas Donskoi (Questionable, Lower Body), C Joe Thornton (Questionable, Knee).
ABOUT THE GOLDEN KNIGHTS (57-24-5-3, 45-41 O/U): Marc-Andre Fleury rescued Vegas in overtime with a spectacular glove save, reaching out to snatch Logan Couture's point-blank blast from the slot to set the stage for Karlsson's heroics. Karlsson's winning goal capped another superb performance from the Golden Knights' top line as he combined with Jonathan Marchessault and Reilly Smith for seven points in the game and 19 so far through the first three games of the series. Karlsson, who has one goal and one assist in the first-round sweep of Los Angeles, has torched the Sharks for seven goals and five assists in seven meetings this season.
ABOUT THE SHARKS (50-28-8-3, 41-45 O/U): Is the time right for the return of veteran center Joe Thornton, who has been practicing with the team but has not played since Jan. 23 while recovering from surgery on his medial collateral ligament? Joonas Donskoi (lower body) is questionable for Wednesday after sitting out Game 3, which forced DeBoer to elevate Chris Tierney to the No. 1 line in place of Donskoi and insert Barclay Goodrow at center on the third line, with the latter move not proving to be fruitful. DeBoer has typically ruled Thornton out one day prior to each game but declined to do so Tuesday, listing the 38-year-old as day-to-day.
TRENDS:
* Golden Knights are 9-1 in their last 10 vs. a team with a winning record.
* Sharks are 21-5 in their last 26 vs. Pacific.
* Over is 4-1-1 in Golden Knights' last 6 road games.
* Over is 6-1 in Sharks' last 7 home games.
* Golden Knights are 5-2 in the last 7 meetings.
NHL(57) VEGAS @ (58) SAN JOSE | 05/02/2018 - 10:05 PM
Play ON VEGAS using the money line in All games
The record is 23 Wins and 14 Losses this season (+16.05 units)
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NHL(57) VEGAS @ (58) SAN JOSE | 05/02/2018 - 10:05 PM
Play ON VEGAS using the money line in All games
The record is 23 Wins and 14 Losses for the last two seasons (+16.05 units)
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NHL(57) VEGAS @ (58) SAN JOSE | 05/02/2018 - 10:05 PM
Play OVER VEGAS using the puck line in All games when playing against a team with a winning record
The record is 31 Overs and 16 Unders this season (+14.65 units)
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NHL(57) VEGAS @ (58) SAN JOSE | 05/02/2018 - 10:05 PM
Play OVER VEGAS using the puck line in All games in all games
The record is 58 Overs and 32 Unders this season (+21.30 units)
NHL
Wednesday, May 2
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Trend Report
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Tampa Bay Lightning
Tampa Bay is 5-2 ATS in its last 7 games
Tampa Bay is 5-2 SU in its last 7 games
Tampa Bay is 2-5 ATS in its last 7 games on the road
Tampa Bay is 2-4 SU in its last 6 games on the road
The total has gone OVER in 16 of Tampa Bay's last 23 games on the road
Tampa Bay is 3-9 SU in its last 12 games when playing Boston
Tampa Bay is 3-15 SU in its last 18 games when playing on the road against Boston
Boston Bruins
Boston is 6-2 ATS in its last 8 games at home
Boston is 13-3 SU in its last 16 games at home
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Boston's last 6 games at home
Boston is 9-3 SU in its last 12 games when playing Tampa Bay
Boston is 15-3 SU in its last 18 games when playing at home against Tampa Bay
Vegas Golden Knights
Vegas is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games
Vegas is 4-9 ATS in its last 13 games
Vegas is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games
Vegas is 17-8 ATS in its last 25 games on the road
Vegas is 4-2 SU in its last 6 games on the road
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Vegas's last 6 games on the road
Vegas is 5-2 ATS in its last 7 games when playing San Jose
Vegas is 5-2 SU in its last 7 games when playing San Jose
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Vegas's last 7 games when playing San Jose
San Jose Sharks
San Jose is 5-2 SU in its last 7 games
The total has gone OVER in 4 of San Jose's last 5 games
San Jose is 2-4 ATS in its last 6 games at home
San Jose is 12-5 SU in its last 17 games at home
The total has gone OVER in 6 of San Jose's last 7 games at home
San Jose is 2-5 ATS in its last 7 games when playing Vegas
San Jose is 2-5 SU in its last 7 games when playing Vegas
The total has gone OVER in 5 of San Jose's last 7 games when playing Vegas
NHL
Long Sheet
Wednesday, May 2
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TAMPA BAY (59-25-0-5, 123 pts.) at BOSTON (55-24-0-12, 122 pts.) - 5/2/2018, 7:05 PM
Top Trends for this game.
BOSTON is 14-5 ATS (+6.9 Units) after a loss by 2 goals or more in their previous game this season.
TAMPA BAY is 60-30 ATS (+8.3 Units) in all games this season.
TAMPA BAY is 20-6 ATS (+12.4 Units) in the second round of the playoffs since 1996.
TAMPA BAY is 229-234 ATS (+493.1 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record in the second half of the season since 1996.
BOSTON is 274-235 ATS (-103.3 Units) in home games second half of the season since 1996.
BOSTON is 25-28 ATS (-26.8 Units) in home games after a division game over the last 3 seasons.
BOSTON is 38-42 ATS (-33.4 Units) revenging a loss versus opponent over the last 2 seasons.
Head-to-Head Series History
BOSTON is 10-5 (+5.7 Units) against the spread versus TAMPA BAY over the last 3 seasons
BOSTON is 10-5-0 straight up against TAMPA BAY over the last 3 seasons
6 of 11 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Under=+0.2 Units)
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VEGAS (57-25-0-7, 121 pts.) at SAN JOSE (50-28-0-11, 111 pts.) - 5/2/2018, 10:05 PM
Top Trends for this game.
SAN JOSE is 26-10 ATS (+13.6 Units) vs. division opponents this season.
SAN JOSE is 20-9 ATS (+9.0 Units) after allowing 4 goals or more this season.
VEGAS is 58-32 ATS (+19.4 Units) in all games this season.
VEGAS is 13-6 ATS (+6.8 Units) in a road game where where the total is 5.5 this season.
VEGAS is 26-10 ATS (+12.7 Units) vs. division opponents this season.
VEGAS is 31-16 ATS (+13.8 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record this season.
SAN JOSE is 180-151 ATS (-79.8 Units) in home games after a division game since 1996.
SAN JOSE is 19-29 ATS (-14.5 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record in the second half of the season over the last 2 seasons.
Head-to-Head Series History
VEGAS is 5-2 (+2.3 Units) against the spread versus SAN JOSE over the last 3 seasons
VEGAS is 5-2-0 straight up against SAN JOSE over the last 3 seasons
5 of 7 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Over=+3.1 Units)
Preview: Lightning at Bruins
Gracenote
May 1, 2018
The Tampa Bay Lightning made a strong response physically to even the Eastern Conference semifinal series and will try to match that effort when they visit the Boston Bruins on Wednesday night for Game 3. The Lightning totaled 42 hits and center Brayden Point rebounded from a rough series opener (minus-5 rating) to register a goal and three assists in the 4-2 victory Monday in Game 2.
“I think that’s what’s good about this group, a lot of guys have been through these stretches before and realize there’s ups and downs in playoff series - make sure we don’t get too high and too low,” Tampa Bay right wing Ryan Callahan said. “. … You try to stay even keeled, especially after (Monday). It’s an emotional win, but they’ve got home ice now so they did their job. We’ve got to go in there and try to steal one.” The Lightning have a 67-44 edge in shots over the first two games and the Bruins hope to turn those numbers around at home, where they went 28-8-5 this season - including a pair of wins against Tampa Bay. Boston’s top line of Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak had four assists Monday after posting three goals and 11 points in Game 1, but should get better matchups on home ice Wednesday. “I know they had a good game, but I think it’s more on us,” Pastrnak told reporters. “We’ve got to be better Wednesday.”
TV: 7 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network, CBC, TVA
ABOUT THE LIGHTNING: Coach Jon Cooper said he never considered taking Point, Ondrej Palat and Tyler Johnson off the assignment of checking Boston’s top line after Game 1 and the trio responded by each scoring a goal Monday. “We’ve watched (Point), watched that line, check the best lines in the league all year,” Cooper said. “There was no reason to. … panic and say they can’t do it. We know they can do it. We have faith in them.” Tampa Bay has yet to get a point from its top line of J.T. Miller, captain Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov in the series, but the trio registered 12 shots on net combined and Miller had six hits Monday.
ABOUT THE BRUINS: Rookie defenseman Charlie McAvoy, who regularly pairs with captain Zdeno Chara, scored his first career playoff goal Monday and has four points to go along with a plus-5 rating in the first nine games of the postseason. Pastrnak, who leads the team in scoring during the playoffs (18 points), was limited to one shot on goal in Game 2 and is a minus-6 in Boston’s four losses in the postseason while posting a plus-10 in the wins. Defenseman Torey Krug became the fourth Bruin to reach 10 points in the playoffs Monday and has tied his career high in the postseason last season (two goals, eight assists).
OVERTIME
1. Chara can pass Rick Middleton (111) for fourth and Bergeron could move past Johnny Bucyk (109) for sixth in franchise history for postseason games played.
2. Johnson is tied with Vincent Lecavalier for third in Tampa Bay franchise history with 24 playoff games after his tally in Monday’s win.
3. The Bruins were 11th and the Lightning 27th in the league in faceoff percentage during the regular season, but Tampa Bay has a 59-50 edge in the series.
PREDICTION: Bruins 3, Lightning 1