The Stanley Cup Final is set to begin tomorrow. Both the Bruins and Blackhawks made light work of their Conference Finals opponents and seem to be on the top of their games heading into these Stanley Cup Finals. The Bruins especially surprised a lot of people when they swept the Pittsburgh Penguins, who were the Cup favorites starting the playoffs, only allowing 2 goals in the entire series!
I went 1-1 in the Conference Finals, losing the Bruins vs Penguins series as I didn’t expect the Bruins to be able to keep the Pens off the scoreboard like they did. I’m still 12-2 though for series predictions this playoffs with a strong 10.2 units of profit.
Regular Season Record: 68-59 for +11.33 units.
Playoff Record: 20-15 for +4.57 units.
Playoff Series Record: 12-2 for +10.20 units.
Boston Bruins @ Chicago Blackhawks – Stanley Cup Finals
Online sportsbook 5Dimes has the best odds for both teams to win the Stanley Cup this year:
Boston Bruins +135
Chicago Blackhawks -145
The Bruins seemed to wake up with 10 minutes left in game seven of their first round series with the Toronto Maple Leafs. With just over 10 minutes remaining the Bruins were down 4-1 and on the verge of elimination. This was after leading the series 3 games to 1 after 4. Somehow the Bruins were able to score a goal to bring the score to 4-2 and then score 2 with the goalie pulled late in the game and another early into overtime. Since that game, the Bruins have won 8 of 9, with their only loss coming in overtime in New York in an elimination game.
The Blackhawks were also on the brink of elimination, but this was in their second round series against the Red Wings. The Blackhawks were down 3 games to 1 and stormed back to force a seventh game and won it in dramatic fashion in overtime (after scoring a goal late in regulation that was somehow disallowed). The ‘Hawks have gone 7-1 since being down 3-1 in that series.
So as you can see both teams are very hot at the moment. In the goaltending department each tender has almost identical numbers and each is playing their best hockey of the season. The one difference I might point out is that Rask did so against the leagues best offense, while Crawford has not played teams known this year for their goalscoring prowess.
Zdeno Chara is another big factor for the Bruins. He is probably the most effective blueliner on either team and will likely be tasked with shutting down Toews/Kane, among others. The Blackhawks have Duncan Keith, but their defensive depth isn’t as good as Boston’s, who have had to use a wide variety of defenders in this playoffs, each of which has stepped up to the plate.
On forward, the Blackhawks would seem to have the higher end talent with Toews, Kane, Hossa, Sharp, etc, but if I had to choose I would take the top 7 Bruins forwards over that of the Blackhawks. The line of Marchand/Bergeron/Jagr has come through with some big goals, while Horton/Krejci/Lucic has been the best line in these playoffs. Add in Seguin who is looking to break out and you have arguably the best group of 7 forwards in the league.
The Blackhawks are the favourites in this series and rightfully so after the season they had. But when you look at the Bruins on paper they seem to match up quite well. And that’s not even taking into account that the Bruins just destroyed the Stanley Cup favourites in a 4 game sweep.
I like the Bruins as minor dogs in this one.
Play: Boston Bruins +135 (5Dimes.eu)
Tagged with: Boston Bruins • Chicago Blackhawks • playoffs • Stanley Cup Finals