Betting news, trends, odds and predictions from various handicappers and websites for Thursday 5/16/19
The Boston Bruins are just one game away from advancing to the Stanley Cup finals. The Carolina Hurricanes hope that they can keep their championship dreams alive when they square off on Thursday, May 16.
Boston moved one step closer with a 2-1 victory in Game 3. After a scoreless first period, Boston would take the lead when Chris Wagner scored his second goal of the playoffs 1:21 into the frame. About five minutes later, Brad Marchand would score a power-play goal, his sixth goal of the playoffs. Carolina would cut the deficit in half on a goal by Calvin de Haan, his first of the playoffs, but they would get no closer as Boston would take a 3-0 lead in the series.
Featured Games
Boston Bruins (-125) vs. Carolina Hurricanes (+105)
Boston Keys
The key for Boston in this series has been their special teams. They have five power-play goals through the first three contests, going 5 for 12 with the man advantage. Meanwhile, Carolina has just one goal in their 12 power-play chances, as the Bruins have shut down the Hurricanes with the man advantage.
Keeping Rask on his game is essential. He has been getting better as the series is gone along and looked incredible and Game 3, stopping 35 shots. He can taste that Stanley Cup championship series.
Getting ahead has been a key in the series as well. It is no coincidence that Boston has scored first in every game and they have won every game. They have rattled the young Hurricanes.
Carolina Keys
It doesn’t take a genius to figure out the Carolina needs to start scoring. They finally got the goaltending they needed but all they can produce is one goal. They have five total goals in the series, and their power play unit has been abysmal.
Teuvo Teravainen needs to start getting on the score sheet. The Hurricanes second-leading scorer has just one point in the series. For a team struggling to score, they need their star performers to step up, and there is no time like the present.
Stay out of the penalty box. They have no answers for Boston’s power play right now and simply cannot afford to give the Bruins any kind of man-advantage opportunities.
Goaltending Matchup:
Tuukka Rask continues to be dominating in this series. He has allowed five total goals while saving 85 shots. Carolina was so successful scoring early in the playoffs, but have not seen that kind of success against the Bruins netminder. Rask has a 1.96 goals-against average and a .939 save percentage through the first 16 games of the playoffs.
The Hurricanes wisely decided to go with Curtis McElhinney in Game 3 and he played well. McElhinney allowed just two goals on 31 shots he faced, but his offense really let him down. McElhinney has a 1.70 goals-against average and a .943 save percentage through his four games in the playoffs.
Stat Pack:
Bruins:
Goals For: 3.31
Goals Against: 2.06
Power-Play: 31.9%
Penalty Killing: 85.7%
Hurricanes:
Goals For: 2.79
Goals Against: 2.71
Power-Play: 10.0%
Penalty Killing: 70.8%
Trends to Know
Boston Bruins are:
6-0 in their last six games.
5-1 in their last six games on the road
8-0 in their last eight conference finals games.
Carolina Hurricanes are:
0-7 in their last seven conference finals games.
1-7 in their last eight games against teams with a winning percentage above .600.
39-19 in their last 58 games.
Prediction
No offense to Carolina, but this series is over. No matter how good their goaltending is, they simply cannot score goals. Two goals are not enough to beat a team like the Bruins, especially now that they have to have a lot of confidence heading into this contest knowing they are just a game away from reaching the finals.
We expected a higher scoring contest in Game 3 with Petr Mrazek in net, but with McElhinney taking over the goaltending duties this will be a much lower scoring game. We still don’t see Carolina scoring more than one goal, but Boston isn’t going to get more than three. The total is set at 5.5 for this contest, take the under as the Boston Bruins win 3-1 to advance to the Stanley Cup championship series.
Boston Bruins vs. Carolina Hurricanes Preview and Predictions 05-16-2019 in NHL
While history is firmly on their side, the Boston Bruins are well aware that it's possible to blow a 3-0 series lead in the NHL playoffs. So is Carolina Hurricanes captain Justin Williams. Winners of six in a row, the surging Bruins are in complete control of the Eastern Conference final and can complete a sweep of the Hurricanes in Thursday night's Game 4 in Carolina.
Boston, one of four teams in league history to lose a playoff series when holding a 3-0 lead (2010 versus Philadelphia), is within one win of reaching its third Stanley Cup Final in nine seasons. "It's a good spot to be in, but it's far from being over," Bruins forward Brad Marchand said after Tuesday's 2-1 victory. "We're obviously happy with getting the win, but now we need to let it go and it's on to the next one." Williams was on the last team to erase a 3-0 deficit and wound up as the Conn Smythe Trophy winner in Los Angeles' run to the Stanley Cup championship in 2014. "I can't sugarcoat anything. This isn't an ideal," Williams acknowledged. "We'd obviously rather not be down 3-0 but with being down 3-0 creates opportunity for yourself. That's the way you have to look at it."
TV: 8 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network, CBC, Sportsnet, TVAS
ABOUT THE BRUINS: Tuukka Rask has put himself at the forefront of the Conn Smythe conversation, allowing nine goals during the six-game winning streak after making 20 of his 35 saves in the first period of Game 3. "I can't say enough about Tuukks," center Patrice Bergeron said. "To me, it's been his poise. Tuukka's one of those guys that's always calm and collected, never too up or down. He's always even keel. Right now he's in the zone. He's been amazing. And he's a huge reason why we're here right now." Fourth-line winger Chris Wagner was hurt blocking a shot Tuesday and will be replaced by Noel Acciari.
ABOUT THE HURRICANES: Carolina has been haunted by its futility on the power play, whiffing on five chances in Game 3 -- four in the first period alone -- to fall to 1-for-12 in the series and 5-for-50 overall in the postseason. "We had a ton of good chances," coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "You've got to score on those. Five-on-three, you've got to score. Playoffs, especially, you don't get that many good looks in the game. That's one where you've got to find the back of the net." Curtis McElhinney, who replaced Petr Mrazek in Game 3 and made 29 saves, will "probably" be back in net Thursday, according to Brind'Amour.
OVERTIME
1. The Bruins are 5-for-12 with the man advantage in the series.
2. Hurricanes F Sebastian Aho has points in five straight games overall and 10 in six meetings versus the Bruins this season.
3. Boston's six-game playoff win streak is its longest since 1978 and the third-longest in franchise history.
NHL
Dunkel
Thursday, May 16
Boston @ Carolina
Game 15-16
May 16, 2019 @ 8:00 pm
Dunkel Rating:
Boston
14.558
Carolina
12.129
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
Boston
by 2 1/2
5
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
Boston
-120
5 1/2
Dunkel Pick:
Boston
(-120); Under
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NHL
Long Sheet
Thursday, May 16
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BOSTON (60-29-0-9, 129 pts.) at CAROLINA (54-34-0-8, 116 pts.) - 5/16/2019, 8:00 PM
Top Trends for this game.
CAROLINA is 38-20 ATS (+5.3 Units) second half of the season this season.
BOSTON is 215-169 ATS (+45.9 Units) in a road game where where the total is 5.5 since 1996.
BOSTON is 35-22 ATS (+7.0 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record this season.
Head-to-Head Series History
BOSTON is 9-3 (+6.0 Units) against the spread versus CAROLINA over the last 3 seasons
BOSTON is 9-3-0 straight up against CAROLINA over the last 3 seasons
8 of 12 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Over=+4.3 Units)
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NHL
Thursday, May 16
Trend Report
Boston Bruins
Boston is 6-1 ATS in its last 7 games
Boston is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Boston's last 9 games
Boston is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games on the road
Boston is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games on the road
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Boston's last 5 games on the road
Boston is 8-3 ATS in its last 11 games when playing Carolina
Boston is 8-1 SU in its last 9 games when playing Carolina
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Boston's last 5 games when playing Carolina
Boston is 6-1 ATS in its last 7 games when playing on the road against Carolina
Carolina Hurricanes
Carolina is 6-3 ATS in its last 9 games
Carolina is 6-3 SU in its last 9 games
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Carolina's last 5 games
Carolina is 3-8 ATS in its last 11 games when playing Boston
Carolina is 1-8 SU in its last 9 games when playing Boston
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Carolina's last 5 games when playing Boston
Carolina is 1-6 ATS in its last 7 games when playing at home against Boston
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