The New York Islanders and Boston Bruins play Game 1 of their Stanley Cup Playoffs second-round series Saturday. Puck drop is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET at TD Garden. Below, we analyze the Islanders-Bruins odds and lines, with NHL picks and predictions.
The Islanders polished off the Pittsburgh Penguins in six games while the Bruins pushed past the Washington Capitals in five games in the first round.
New York won the first five meetings in the regular season before Boston won the final three meetings. Four of the eight games between these teams were decided by one goal, including the most recent battle May 10 in Boston, a 3-2 overtime win for the B’s.
Islanders at Bruins: Odds, spread and lines
Odds via BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated at 7:30 a.m. ET.
- Money line: Islanders +155 (bet $100 to win $155) | Bruins -190 (bet $190 to win $100)
- Against the spread/ATS: Islanders +1.5 (-175) | Bruins -1.5 (+145)
- Over/Under: 5 (O: -125 | U: +105)
Islanders at Bruins: Projected starting goalies
Ilya Sorokin (13-6-3, 2.17 GAA, .918 SV%, 3 SO) vs. Tuukka Rask (15-5-2, 2.28 GAA, .913 SV%, 2 SO)
Sorokin was entrusted to start in the first round after Semyon Varlamov missed Game 1 and then was shaky in his return. All Sorokin did was rattle off four wins in his four games to lead the mild upset of the Penguins.
The rookie was 0-1-1 against the B’s in two starts in the regular season, but he had a stellar 2.23 GAA and .921 SV%.
Rask posted a 2-2-0 record in four starts and five appearances against the Islanders this season posting a sparkling 1.86 GAA and .925 SV%.
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Islanders at Bruins: Odds, lines, predictions and picks
Prediction
Bruins 4, Islanders 2
Money line (ML)
The Bruins (-190) are just a smidge over my personal money line limit of -180, and I don’t love them enough in Game 1 to override that thinking. The Islanders (+155) looked rock-solid against the Penguins; so betting against them is a coin-flip right now.
AVOID.
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Against the spread (ATS)
The BRUINS -1.5 (+145) is a much better value, although I’d go lightly here, too. Four of the eight regular-season meetings were decided by one goal. However, the Islanders +1.5 (-175) are just 2-6 in their past eight trips to Beantown, and the home side has won seven of the past eight meetings.
Over/Under (O/U)
OVER 5 (-140) is the lean in this series opener. The goalies were strong in the first-round series for each side, but I still have a little bit of a problem trusting my money on a rookie backstop. The bright lights and intensity will be turned up a touch in the second round, and it will be interesting to see how Sorokin handles things against the likes of David Pastrnak, Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand and company. Over is the play here.
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