The St. Louis Blues and the Boston Bruins are set to battle at TD Garden in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals. The opening face-off takes place at 8 p.m. ET on Thursday, June 6, and fans at home can catch it live on NBC.
St. Louis Blues vs. Boston Bruins Odds
Boston comes into the game as the heavy favorite with a moneyline of -150. The line for St. Louis sits at +130, and the oddsmakers have set the Over/Under (O/U) at 6 goals. The line for betting the total stands at -145 under, +125 over.
Earning moneyline bettors 6.8 units, Boston is 63-40 straight up (SU) overall this year. That winning percentage, ranked second in the NHL in this young season, hasn’t moved much from the 50-32 record the team produced during the 2017-18 season campaign. Through 103 regular season contests, 55 of its games have gone under the total, while 44 have gone over and just four have pushed. This year, the team’s 36-16 SU at home.
After producing the third-strongest power-play unit in the regular season (scoring on 27.8 percent of all opportunities), the Bruins have connected on 34.8 percent of their extra-man advantages in the postseason.
The Bruins’ offensive attack attempted 32.6 shots per game in the regular season, leading to 3.2 goals per outing (ranked 11th overall in the NHL). In the postseason, the club’s attempting an average of 32.3 shots on goal ( 3.4 goals per game).
Averaging 26.4 saves per game with a .921 save percentage, Tuukka Rask (41-26-7) has been the principal option in goal for Boston this season. If head coach Bruce Cassidy decides to give him the evening off, however, the team may turn to Jaroslav Halak (22-18-18 record, .922 save percentage, 2.34 goals against average).
St. Louis has earned 5.1 units for moneyline bettors this season and is currently 59-46 straight up (SU). Through 105 regular season matches, 52 of its games have gone under the total, while 46 have gone over and just seven have pushed. The Blues are 29-23 SU as the visiting team this season.
The Blues have scored on 20.2 percent of their power play chances this year, a figure that places it in the top-10 among NHL teams. On the other hand, its penalty kill unit is ranked ninth overall and it’s successfully killed off 80.0 percent of all opponent power plays.
Jordan Binnington (.919 save percentage and 2.15 goals against average) has been the main option in goal for St. Louis. Binnington is averaging 24.2 saves per game and owns a 38-17-3 record.
St. Louis Blues at Boston Bruins Betting Picks
Free NHL Pick: SU Winner – Bruins, O/U – Under
Betting Notes
- Over Boston’s last ten outings, seven of them have been decided by two or more goals (the team is 6-1 in those games).
- Power-play chances could prove to be key tonight. The Blues are 31-24 in games where they serve fewer penalty minutes than their opponent and 44-30 when they serve fewer than 10 total penalty minutes. The Bruins are 30-18 when they serve fewer penalty minutes than the opposition and 44-27 in games where they’re in the box for less than 10 minutes.
- St. Louis is 3-3 in games decided by a shootout this season while Boston is 2-3 in shootouts.
- For both of these clubs, the over has hit in three of their past five games.
- One of the best at puck possession, St. Louis is ranked third this season with just 8.0 giveaways per game. That figure’s trended upward lately, as it’s averaged 10.6 giveaways over its last 10 games and 10.4 giveaways over its last five.
- Boston is ranked 13th this season with 9.7 giveaways per game. That figure has trended down, however, as it’s averaged 7.7 giveaways over its last 10 games and 8.6 giveaways over its last five.
