Game 5 Free Stanley Cup Predictions: Boston Bruins vs Vancouver Canucks
How does a best of three to determine the Staley Cup sound? So far both teams have held serve on home ice – the Canucks in close fashion and the Bruins in uber-impressive style. The move back to Vancouver is certainly good news for the Canucks – they are 9-4 at home in the playoffs.
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Boston Bruins (46-25-11) at Vancouver Canucks (54-19-9)
Date/Time: Friday, June 10, 8:00 PM ET
Venue: Rogers Arena, Vancouver, British Columbia
Broadcast: CBC, NBC, RDS
Series tied 2-2
Bruins vs. Canucks Betting Lines from Bodog.com
Spread: Canucks -1.5 (+175)
Moneyline: Bruins +155: Canucks -175
Over/Under: 5 goals
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But it isn’t such great news for Boston – they are just 5-5 on the road in the playoffs and they have lost four straight games away from TD Garden.
Boston won absolutely every aspect of the two games in Boston. Now the chore is to duplicate their efforts in hostile territory. They were able to utilize their speed size and forecheck to not only generate chances in the offensive zone, but to also limit the Vancouver flow and their puck possession game.
The Bruins have been superb in keeping the puck off of the Canucks’ stick and in letting future Vezina winning goaltender Tim Thomas do the rest.
The question is – can they keep up the momentum in one of the toughest road buildings in the NHL?
Rich Peverley replaced Nathan Horton on the top line and scored twice, David Krejci recorded two assists to take over the playoff scoring lead and players like Michael Ryder have looked All-World in the series.
To say that momentum and the edge in play belongs to Boston is a colossal understatement!
Tim Thomas – what can I say? He now has an all-time second best 700 saves in the playoffs so far. He has given up five goals in four games in the series so far (146 shots faced) against the best offense in the NHL, he has stopped 136 of 137 shots that he has faced at home and he is 9-1 in the playoffs when facing 35 or more shots. Thomas is the difference in the series. [ad-4437448]
The Vancouver Canucks appear to have a case of amnesia – they have completely forgotten their identity and have lost momentum because of it. The only good thing about this amnesia – maybe they will have forgotten how bad they looked in getting outscored 12-1 in the last two games.
When looking at the series, it could be argued that Vancouver is lucky to be tied at this point. The power play that had been clicking at a 28% pace is just one for 22 in the series so far, the Sedins have combined for just one point, and Ryan Kesler and Mayson Raymond are pointless so far in the four games.
There certainly isn’t much to like about Vancouver heading into Game 5!
Roberto Luongo is struggling plain and simple. It will be interesting to see how he responds in front of a Vancouver crowd that cheered when he was replaced by Corey Schneider in Game 4.
Lou has been much better at home in the playoffs than on the road so hopes are that he will snap out of his funk.
NHL Betting Trends:
Under is 19-5-4 in BOS last 28 vs. Northwest.
BOS are 6-2 in their last 8 vs. Northwest.
BOS are 4-11 in their last 15 Fri. games.
VAN are 9-2 in their last 11 Fri. games.
Under is 16-5-2 in VAN last 23 home games.
VAN are 84-36 in their last 120 home games.
Under is 5-1-2 in the last 8 meetings.
Betting Prediction: As mentioned, there is not a whole lot to like about Vancouver’s game at this point in time.
The Chicago series not too long ago is a good reference to their propensity to slump against teams that take the play to them. The loss of Dan Hamhuis and Aaron Rome is huge for Vancouver and I think that it takes one more game to make the necessary adjustments to play without them. Game 5 will be much closer but the outcome will likely be the same.
I like the way the Bruins are playing and I love the +155.
Pick: Boston Bruins +155
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One reply on “Bruins vs. Canucks Game 5 NHL Finals Picks | Preview”
Boston +155 is VERY attractive here. But NHL players say in the playoffs you don’t carry momentum from game to game, so if we believe that then the home team in this series should win again. Vancouver 3-2 over the Bruins.