We just have one game today, as the New York Islanders look to close out the Boston Bruins at home. The Islanders took Game 5 by a score of 5-4 after being outshot by the Bruins 44 to 19. The main difference in this game was the Islanders ability to capitalize on the powerplay as they went 3-4. The Bruins also led in expected goals that game with 3.72, to the Isles 2.45. All three (Varlamov, Rask, Swayman) goalies in this game struggled, as they all finished with negative goals above expected. Lets check out this Game 6 matchup and see if we can find any value.
Boston Bruins (-135) @ New York Islanders (+115)
Game 6 takes place on Long Island where the home team will stick with the same lineup that got the job done in Game 5. This means that Semyon Varlamov will start in net for home team. While the Boston Bruins are expected to start Tuukka Rask. Tuukka was replaced in the third period for the rookie, Jeremy Swayman. Swayman allowed an early goal that would eventually be the game winner but settled in nicely after that. However, it makes sense that they’re going with Rask here in an elimination game based off of experience. If Rask is injured as the Bruins had said, then Swayman would be making his first career NHL playoff start tonight.
Looking at this game, the total has been set at 5.0 for every game in this series. That trend continues tonight, as the total is juiced to the Over since it’s 3-1-1 in this series. The Boston Bruins pride themselves on a defensive style game that should be on display tonight. Rask struggled in Game 5 but I don’t expect that to be the case tonight. We should have a low scoring matchup tonight, as the Bruins look to stay alive and force a Game 7.
Total: Under 5.0, +120 (Risk 0.84 to win 1.01)
