A lot happened in game 3. There were a lot of goals, 9 in total, while all but one were scored by Boston Bruins players. An 8-1 dominating performance by the Bruins in a must win game gives Bruins supporters something to be hopeful about heading into tonights game 4 in Boston and also in the rest of the series. The other notable thing that happened was that two players, one from each team, will not be returning to the series. Aaron Rome delivered a big hit on Nathan Horton early into game 4 that caused the big Bruin to suffer a severe concussion, one which he will not be able to return from in the final 4 games of the series. The NHL then went on to suspend Rome for the remainder of the finals, citing that the hit was late and caused a significant injury to Horton. Most people will immediately say that Horton is a bigger part of the Bruins team than Rome is of the Canucks and they would likely be right, but that being said Rome has been playing well all playoffs and taking a decent amount of minutes (around 15) on D for the Canucks. Keith Ballard should step into the lineup and not miss a beat, which should benefit the Canucks, while Seguin will likely be back in the lineup for the Bruins. There is a good chance that Rich Peverley moves up to the top line with Krejci and Lucic, but if Julien feels like giving the youngster a chance, Seguin could fit in their nicely as well.
Canucks @ Bruins Game 4 Prediction
The Bruins are very slight favourites in this game mainly due to their home ice advantage. They finally got the special teams working in game 3 and if this can continue into game 4 they have a strong chance of winning. Nathan Horton will be missed, but Rich Peverley is no slouch and I expect him to have a strong game on the top line, which is where I expect him to play. The Canucks have only scored 5 goals in 3 games this series, so all of that talk about Tim Thomas having to change his game because of the East/West style of the Canucks was just something stupid to talk about. Even after 2 games having only been scored on 4 times, there is no reason to change the style for a goaltender. 2 GAA is pretty solid in my books.
I expect Tim Thomas to once again be on top of his game. The real question lies in whether Luongo can bounce back. If we look at the only other time the Canucks got lit up (game 4 in Chicago allowing 7 goals), Luongo did not bounce back with the best performance, allowing Chicago to score 5 more in game 5. I expect more of the same. Look for the Bruins to get at least 3 goals tonight, which should be enough to win the game.
Prediction: Boston Bruins -115
If you are into spread betting on NHL games, the -1.5 line on the Bruins may also look enticing. If the Bruins win by 2 or more goals, the odds are +248. I could definitely see this happen considering Luongo and the Canucks track record. Another interesting fact is that the Canucks have allowed more goals per game (2.67) than they have scored (2.62) this playoffs.
**Update – Boston Bruins win game 4-0. Learn more about Boston Bruins betting in our new post for 2011-12.
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Tagged with: Betting • Boston Bruins • Game 4 • Prediction • Stanley Cup • Vancouver Canucks