The Boston Bruins and Tampa Bay Lightning meet Saturday in game four of the NHL East Second Round at the Scotiabank Arena.
The Boston Bruins could use a bounce back win here to even up the series at 2-2. The Boston Bruins are averaging 2.36 goals per game and are scoring on 21.6 percent of their power play opportunities. Brad Marchand leads Boston with seven goals, David Krejci has seven assists and Patrice Bergeron has 41 shots on goal. Defensively, the Boston Bruins are allowing three goals per game and are killing 81.3 percent of their opponents power plays. Jaroslav Halak has allowed 19 goals on 195 shots faced and Tuukka Rask has allowed 11 goals on 114 shots. Dan Vladar has given up three goals on 15 shots.
The Tampa Bay Lightning look for a third straight victory to take a commanding 3-1 series lead. The Tampa Bay Lightning are averaging three goals per game and are scoring on 19.2 percent of their power play opportunities. Brayden Point leads Tampa Bay with six goals, Nikita Kucherov has 10 assists and Victor Hedman has 38 shots on goal. Defensively, the Tampa Bay Lightning are allowing 2.45 goals per game and are killing 82.5 percent of their opponents power plays. Andrei Vasilevskiy has given up 26 goals on 341 shots faced.
The Lightning are 4-1 in their last 5 playoff games as a favorite, 9-2 in their last 11 Saturday games and 37-16 in their last 53 overall. The Bruins are 6-2 in their last 8 playoff games as an underdog, 46-21 in their last 67 Saturday games and 21-10 in their last 31 overall. The under is 7-3-2 in Lightning last 12 overall. The under is 11-5 in Bruins last 16 overall. The Lightning are 5-0 in the last 5 meetings in Boston and 13-3 in the last 16 meetings.
The Boston Bruins needed the extra day of rest after getting waxed in game three and maybe they can figure out their goaltending after clearing their heads. While we should expect a better performance from the Bruins, the Tampa Bay Lightning have sank their teeth in this series and look far too comfortable on the offensive end. The Lightning have also won eight of the last 10 meetings against the Bruins. I’ll lay the cheap price with Tampa Bay.