All the pressure in the world was on the Boston Bruins entering Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals on Saturday night. They had just surrendered a fairly soft loss in Game 2 up in Boston, as the St. Louis Blues came out onto the ice at the TD Garden and manhandled the B’s from start to finish, evening up the series and winning the first-ever Stanley Cup Finals game in franchise history. The series moved to St. Louis, which had not hosted a Final since 1970, and all the Bruins did was deliver a rout, scoring three goals in the opening period en route to a 7-2 laugher. Defenseman Torey Krug (1 goal, 3 assists) became the first Bruin ever to have four points in a Stanley Cup Final game, Patrice Bergeron scored a goal and two assists, and David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand also joined the scoring. The vaunted Boston power play, which had faltered so far in the Finals, went 4 for 4, needing just four shots to score, and Blues goalie Jordan Binnington found himself pulled from a game for the first time in his NHL career. St. Louis did get a pair of goals, including their first power-play tally in the Finals, but they have a lot of work to do to get the series back to even footing on Monday night. Can the Blues send the series back to Boston all square? Or will the Bruins run wild again in Game 4? Don’t miss our Stanley Cup Finals betting preview.
Bruins vs Blues 2019 Stanley Cup Finals Game 4 Odds & Pick
When: Monday, June 3, 2019, 8:00pm ET
Where: Enterprise Center, St. Louis
TV: NBC
Radio: 98.5 FM The Sports Hub Boston / ESPN 101.1 FM St. Louis
Live Stream: NHL.tv2019 Stanley Cup Finals Game 4 Odds: Boston -110 / St. Louis -110 / O/U 5.5
Why should you bet on Boston?
Boston has a chance to take control of the series with a win in Game 4, and they saw their power play percentage shoot up to 35.9 percent in the postseason on Saturday. They are now scoring 3.5 goals per game in the playoffs, led by nine goals from Patrice Bergeron. Krug leads the team in assists with 14, and Pastrnak has the most shots on goal with 65. The key is on defense, as the B’s only permit two goals per game, and have not allowed more than three in 16 consecutive games.
Boston has won five straight road games and nine of their last 11 overall. They have shown, in each of their first three postseason series, that they have another gear that they can switch to. Their top line said after Game 3 that they still have not put together a complete game, a comment that has to scare the Blues’ faithful. If you like Boston, you see them continuing with the same level of intensity that they brought to Game 3.
Why should you put your money on St. Louis?
The Blues will get forward Oskar Sundqvist, an important contributor on the checking line, back from a suspension in Game 4, which will add some punch to their defense. The Blues’ goal differential in this postseason took a hit, dropping to +0.2 after that five-goal rout the other night. The good news for St. Louis is that, in each of their series so far, they have taken a bad loss and then bounced back to elevate their game, and there’s nothing to suggest that they won’t regroup and bring their grinding defense to bear again in Game 4, as the Bruins could easily hang back as they did in Game 2.
St. Louis has won 19 of their last 27 at Enterprise Center and 37 of 55 overall. The home team has won five of the last seven meetings between Boston and St. Louis. While St. Louis is just 5-5 in their last 10 games at home, they have only lost consecutive home games three times since January 10. The momentum moving from one game to the next does not seem to be a factor in this year’s Stanley Cup playoffs, so St. Louis could easily bounce back. Jordan Binnington has not lost consecutive games since Games 4 and 5 of the Western Conference semifinals against Dallas — and the Blues won Games 6 and 7 to bounce the Stars out of the postseason. In the last four games when Binnington has permitted at least three goals, he has followed with games permitting no more than two goals in his next outing.
Expert Pick and Final Score Prediction for Bruins vs Bruins
Boston rolled to an easy Game 1 win, and then St. Louis took advantage of some lackadaisical play from the Bruins to win Game 2. Will Boston really make the same mistake in Game 4? I don’t think so. I’m predicting a final score of Boston 4, St. Louis 2.
