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NHL Playoff Betting – Bruins vs. Lightning Game 3 Preview & Pick

Its NHL playoff betting time once again. The Boston Bruins vs. Tampa Bay Lightning is on Thursday night. Both will be trying to pick up a win in the Eastern Conference Finals with the line opening with Tampa Bay as a -140 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 Preview & Pick
Date: Thursday, May 19, 2011
Venue: St. Pete Times Forum, Tampa, FL
Broadcast: Versus, TSN
Boston Bruins at Tampa Bay Lightning Betting Lines from Bookmaker.com
Money Line: Bruins +120, Lightning -140
Spread: Lightning -1.5
Over/Under: 5.5
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Well, that was interesting. Game 2 of the Eastern Conference final essentially told us to take everything we thought we knew about the Bruins/Lighting matchup and toss it out the window.

This is a smashmouth battle between rugged teams who have stymied their opposition throughout the playoffs, right? Well, Game 2 ended 6-5 for Boston. Timmy Thomas allowed five goals and the seemingly unbeatable Dwayne Roloson was actually pulled after allowing six goals.

The Bruins’ power play is an Achilles’ heel, right? Apparently not; they were 2 for 5 with the man advantage in Game 2. No faceoff victories without Patrice Bergeron, right? Wrong again. Boston won 56 per cent of the draws.

Tyler Seguin is a rookie and not ready for the pressure of the playoffs at age 19, right? He begs to differ. He scored two beautiful goals and assisted on two more for a four-point night in Game 2. He now has six points in two career playoff games.

After all the shocking revelations, how, then, do we approach our Game-3 wager? I think the best thing we can do is take what we learned and apply it to what we already knew. If we do that, I think it becomes clear that the Lightning are in trouble for Game 3.

The pick:

These Boston Bruins have played their best playoff hockey on the road; they’re 4-1 away from home. They also (a) traditionally play strong defensive hockey independently of Thomas and (b) have an outstanding backup in Tuukka Rask. In other words, I think they can bounce back after allowing five goals in consecutive games to open this series.

But can Tampa say the same? This was an adequate defensive team at best during the regular season, relying more on Dwayne Roloson’s play than its own defense. You have to wonder if the Lightning’s defenders have been playing a bit over their heads during the playoffs. Victor Hedman is still very young; Mattias Ohlund is long in the tooth; Pavel Kubina (head) is nowhere close to returning to the lineup.

Also, the Bruins may have found the gamebreaker they need in Seguin. It doesn’t look like the Tampa defenders have the foot speed to handle him; did you see him split the defense for his breakaway goal in Game 2?

Something tells me what we saw in Game 2 from Boston could be sustainable. Roloson is 41 friggin’ years old; there’s no telling when the bottom might fall out for him and Tampa doesn’t have a good backup option. Go with the Bruins.

Bruins vs Lightning prediction: Bruins 4, Lightning 2

Money Line: Bruins +120, Lightning -140
Spread: Bruins +1.5
Over/Under: OVER 5.5

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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.