The St. Louis Blues rose to the occasion and won their first-ever home game in the Stanley Cup Finals to even the best-of-seven series at two games apiece.
Ryan O’Reilly scored two goals in a critical game for the Western Conference champions, especially after a miserable loss a few nights earlier. The Boston Bruins thumped the Blues 7-2 in Game 3, but they failed to produce the same effort in a 4-2 loss in Game 4.
“It’s anyone’s game now,” Blues forward Oskar Sundqvist said.
The NHL championship now shifts to Boston for Game 5, and so do the Odds to win the Stanley Cup (betting lines provided by Bovada).
Bettors can expect the Vegas Odds Stanley Cup to drop back near the original line after the Blues’ spirited victory in Game 4. It’s worth noting that the future odds on the championship will change throughout the series, but your odds are fixed when you make your bet.
It wasn’t that long ago that the Blues had the worst record in the NHL. St. Louis was dead last among the 31 teams on Jan. 3. Today, they are in their first NHL championship in almost 50 years.
So, when it comes to experience, the Bruins definitely have the historical edge.
The most common bets for hockey at Las Vegas sportsbooks and top-ranked online sites like Bovada are the money line, puck line and over/under totals.
The money line offers NHL Stanley Cup Odds on both teams. Pick the winner and you win this bet. The puck line is like the point spread in football, except it’s usually fixed where the favorite must win by two or more goals. Over/under totals is a wager where the bettor predicts the total of the final score. Let’s take a look at the records in each betting category this season for both Stanley Cup finalists:
Analysis — The Bruins have a better record as favorites on the money line, while the Blues seem to win more often as the underdogs.
Analysis — Both teams have subpar records as favorites, but they often reward their backers as the underdogs. The Bruins suffered their first loss on the puck line as the underdogs in Game 4 after winning eight straight against the spread in the playoffs this year.
Analysis — The under holds a slight edge in the totals bet, but it’s almost a 50-50 proposition for both teams in the playoffs.
This series has featured two heavyweights trading powerful punches. The Bruins rallied to win Game 1 before the Blues surged in overtime to capture Game 2. Boston won Game 3 in a blowout before St. Louis responded with one of their best efforts of the season in Game 4.
Jaden Schwartz leads the Blues in playoff scoring with 12 goals, while O’Reilly is the team leader with 13 assists. The Blues are 7-2 and have scored a league-high 31 goals in nine road games during the playoffs.
Patrice Bergeron leads the Bruins with nine goals, followed by Brad Marchand, David Pastrnak and Charlie Coyle, who have added eight each. Boston is 6-4 at home this season during the playoffs, including two losses in overtime.
One of the most lopsided stats of the postseason is power-play efficiency. The Bruins have connected on 23-of-67 power plays (34.4 percent), while the Blues have hit the mark on just 13-of-76 opportunities (17.1 per cent). The Blues will need to stay out of the penalty box and win at least one more game on the road this season to capture their first-ever Stanley Cup title.
Pick — Boston (-350). The Bruins’ core unit is in its third championship since 2011, while the Blues only have two players that have ever been to the finals. Boston is a city of champions, spoiling their New England fan base with recent titles in football (Patriots) and baseball (Red Sox). They can add hockey to that prestigious list.
See below the top sportsbooks where you can wager online and choose the best one for you:
