The Bruins looked like they had game 1 in the bag, but a couple quick goals from the Blackhawks tied it up and sent the game into one of the longest overtimes in Stanley Cup Finals history. You could tell the top players looked sluggish and by the third overtime I thought a fourth line guy was going to be the hero. It was almost Kaspars Daugavins, the ex Senator who is in for Gregory Campbell in these finals, but he held the puck a little too long and will be kicking himself for quite some time. It ended up being Andrew Shaw who got credited for the goal after it went in off his shin pad. The Blackhawks native was mic’d up by NBC and after the screams of joy he yelled “I Love You Bollie” quickly followed by “I Love Shin Pads!”. A great quote after 6 periods of hockey.
I took the Bruins though and in a game that could have gone either way it didn’t turn out the way we wanted.
Regular Season Record: 68-59 for +11.33 units.
Playoff Record: 20-16 for +3.57 units.
Playoff Series Record: 12-2 for +10.20 units.
Boston Bruins @ Chicago Blackhawks
With that marathon of a game 1 it’s probably a good thing for both teams that there was a two game break. This will also give Boston some time to regroup after a game that can be very demoralizing for a squad. The other negative for the Bruins was that Horton left the game and did not return. He is currently listed as day-to-day, but I don’t expect him to be in the lineup tonight. In his place Seguin will surely move up to the top two lines, but how they organize those lines will be interesting to see. I wouldn’t be surprised if Seguin is moved back with Bergeron and Marchand, while Jagr gets slotted in with Lucic and Krejci. The Bergeron, Marchand and Seguin line was dynamite in the regular season and if they can get going in these finals that would be what the Bruins need. Also, Jagr is more of a similar player to Horton than Seguin and having him slot in there with Lucic and Krejci who are firing on all cylinders might be the smartest way to keep the chemistry alive.
Crawford and Rask both played very strong games, but Crawford seems to have the weakness above the glove on quick shots. Expect the Bruins to try to exploit this some more tonight. Once again I’m going to take the Bruins because I think these games can truly go either way in Chicago and they are the +135 dogs. Going down 2-0 will be a tough hill to climb out of and I expect Rask and company to find a way to win tonight.
Play: Bruins +135 (5Dimes)
Tagged with: Boston Bruins • Chicago Blackhawks • Stanley Cup Finals