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NHL Playoff Betting – Bruins vs. Lightning Game 4 Preview & Pick

Its NHL playoff betting time once again. The Boston Bruins vs. Tampa Bay Lightning Game 4 is on Saturday night. Both will be trying to pick up a win in the Eastern Conference Finals with the line opening with Tampa Bay as a -120 favorite in this matchup. The over/under is set at 5.5, here is the handicapping preview…

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NHL Playoff Betting – Bruins vs Lightning Game 4 Preview & Pick
Date: Saturday, May 21, 2011
Venue: St. Pete Times Forum, Tampa, FL
Broadcast: NBC, TSN
Boston Bruins at Tampa Bay Lightning Betting Lines from Bookmaker.com
Money Line: Bruins +100, Lightning -120
Spread: Lightning -1.5
Over/Under: 5.5

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I keep hearing “vintage Bruins” to describe how Game 3 of the Eastern Conference final went down and I couldn’t agree more. The 2-0 win over Tampa really was a signature win for Boston. Tim Thomas came up huge with a 31-save shutout; Patrice Bergeron returned from a concussion to resume his faceoff dominance, winning 64 per cent of his draws.

The Bruins have now won seven of their last eight games in these playoffs and 20 of their last 28 games against the Lightning including the regular season. This team is brimming with confidence.

Can the Lightning bounce back in Game 4? They did rally from a 3-1 series deficit to beat Pittsburgh in round one. At the same time, Tampa has lost consecutive games twice in the playoffs. As streaky as they’ve been when they’re winning, they also tend to fall into funks for more than one game. The St. Pete Times Forum hasn’t really been a safe haven for the Lightning, either; they’re 3-4 at home in the 2011 playoffs.

While Vincent Lecavalier, Steven Stamkos and Martin St. Louis all scored for Tampa in Game 2, the three snipers didn’t score in Game 1 or 3. Tampa needs its big guns to solve the Bruins’ bruising defense if it wants to stay in this series.

The pick:

A team should be nervous when it dominates play and doesn’t get results. The Lightning peppered Thomas with 15 shots in the third period of Game 3 and came up completely empty. In theory, just as we saw during the Philadelphia series, the Bruins should actually play better defensively the next time out, as Claude Julien will deem it unacceptable for his players to allow open season on Thomas again.

Maybe the Lightning are beginning to tire. Their checking forwards have been outstanding throughout the playoffs but can’t truly be relied upon to put the puck in the net when the chips are down. Tampa’s top snipers have to be better and, in two of three games so far, they’ve shown that they aren’t in the mood to lock horns with Boston’s mean defense.

I’d expect more of a back-and-forth affair in Game 4 but I still like Boston to come out on top – perhaps in overtime.

Bruins vs Lightning prediction: Bruins 3, Lightning 2

Money Line: Bruins +100
Spread: Bruins +1.5
Over/Under: UNDER 5

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By Shea Matthews

Shea Matthews the Senior Writer at CP. Lives and breathes sports. He made the transition from athlete to sports journalist at a young age, writing in TV & national papers. Shea applies his knowledge to sports betting + handicapping daily, and shares winning picks with the world.