Road warrior Boston Bruins at Tampa Bay Lightning
The Boston Bruins continue to play great hockey on the road this post-season. They visit the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday and can put the hosts in serious peril with a win.
Tampa is a -120 home favorite for Game 4 with the total of 5 ½-goals (under -130). NBC will broadcast at 1:30 pm ET.
Boston lost the first game of this series (5-2), but has won the last two. Those wins couldn’t have been any different with a 6-5 shootout on Tuesday, followed by a low-scoring 2-0 affair on Thursday.
Game 3 went way ‘under’ the 5 ½-goal total after the ‘over’ was 2-0 in the first two.
The Thursday game also came in Florida after the series shifted to the Sunshine State. Boston is a very solid 5-1 away in the playoffs and another victory would mean a closeout game at home in Monday’s Game 5.
Patrice Bergeron played after missing the first two games with a concussion. He didn’t register any points, but won 18-of-28 face-offs and his presence on the second line allowed the third and fourth lines to improve with Chris Kelly and Rich Peverley both moving down.
Boston rookie Tyler Seguin was shutout last game after six points in the first two contests. The Lightning were clearly concentrating on the 19-year-old, but that opened up opportunities for other Bruins players.
Goalie Tim Thomas recorded his second career postseason shutout with 31 saves last game. His defense was much better in front of him compared to Game 2, but the 37-year-old also deserves a lot of credit.
Tampa Bay now has to be questioning itself, which is never a good thing. They’ve lost two straight after a prior eight-game winning streak.
Coach Guy Boucher has been credited with pushing all the right buttons recently, but he needs to get the offense and defense going at the same time.
This is a team of offensive stars with Steven Stamkos, Vincent Lecavalier and Martin St. Louis and there’s almost no excuse to be shutout for the first time in 13 games.
Goalie Dwayne Roloson played well last game, stopping 25-of-27 shots after being pulled the game before.
I like Tampa Bay (-120) to bounce back and even the series.