The Boston Bruins and Tampa Bay Lightning continue their Eastern Conference Second-Round series Tuesday with Game 2. Puck drop is at 7 p.m. ET at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto. We analyze the Bruins-Lightning NHL betting odds and lines, with picks and best bets.
Bruins vs. Lightning: Projected starting goalies
Jaroslav Halak vs. Andrei Vasilevskiy
Halak stopped 35 of the 37 shots he faced in the Game 1 victory. He was staked to a 3-0 lead, but allowed two goals to Lightning D Victor Hedman in the final period to make things interesting in the final moments. The one knock on Halak is that he tends to lose focus, albeit briefly, and that can sometimes be costly. Overall the B’s don’t lose much with him between the pipes instead of Tuukka Rask, who returned to Finland for personal reasons.
Vasilevskiy turned aside 28 of the 31 shots he faced, with even-strength goals to C Charlie Coyle and LW Brad Marchand, as well as a power-play goal to RW David Pastrnak. The Vezina Trophy candidate dug himself into a 3-0 hole and it was just too much, although his rearguard buddy Hedman made it close. Look for a much better performance in Game 2.
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Bruins vs. Lightning: Odds, picks and betting tips
Odds courtesy of BetMGM; access them at USA TODAY Sports for a full list. Odds last updated at 7:10 a.m. ET.
Prediction
Lightning 2, Bruins 1 (OT)
Moneyline (ML)
The LIGHTNING (-110) and Bruins (-110) are essentially are in coin flip with the game priced as a pick ’em. We should get a low-scoring, high-hitting Game 2. Vasilevskiy will be much better, and I have a feel we’re going to see the first of multiple overtime games in this series. It’s that tight. Avoid the 3-way line, because even if the team you back wins, you lose if that wager doesn’t cash in regular time.
New to sports betting? A winning $10 bet on the Lightning to win returns a profit of $9.10.
Puck Line/Against the Spread (ATS)
The Lightning (-1.5, +240) looks like a great play on the puck line, as you can more than double your investment and build your bankroll, but this is going to be an ultra-close game and I do not expect anyone to have a two-goal lead at any point in the contest. AVOID.
Over/Under (O/U)
UNDER 5.5 (-134) held on in Game 1, and this should be another low-scoring affair, too. The Under is 4-1 in the previous five meetings between these Atlantic Division rivals, too.
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