2011 NHL Hockey Free Predictions: Lightning vs Bruins – Eastern Conference Finals
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NHL Playoff Betting – Lightning vs Bruins Game 2 Preview & Pick
Date: Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Venue: TD Garden, Boston, MA
Broadcast: Versus, TSN
Tampa Bay Lightning at Boston Bruins Betting Lines from BOOKMAKER.com
Money Line: Lightning +130, Bruins -150
Spread: Bruins -1.5
Over/Under: 5.5
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The Tampa Bay Lightning continue to catch teams napping in these 2011 Stanley Cup playoffs. Fresh off their sweep of the Washington Capitals in round two, they picked up where they left off in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference final against Boston on Saturday.
The game was pretty much decided in the first period. Tampa scored three times in just 85 seconds. Tim Thomas looked less than impressive between the pipes for perhaps the first time this postseason. Tomas Kaberle’s lazy puckhandling that led to a Teddy Purcell goal was a microcosm of the whole game; like the entire Bruins team, he was out to lunch.
It’s very early in this series, and I still think it will be a long, back-and-forth war, but I don’t know if Boston is out of the woods yet in Game 2. Just because it lost Game 1 at home doesn’t mean we should assume the Bruins will automatically storm back to take Game 2.
There are some definite warning signs. First off, the Bruins didn’t have Patrice Bergeron in Game 1. He was their leading scorer in the playoffs and had won an NHL-best 64 per cent of his faceoffs. The Bruins lost 61 per cent of the faceoffs in Game 1. Bergeron’s concussion will likely keep him out for Game 2 as well. Even though rookie Tyler Seguin scored a goal as his lineup replacement, he can’t match Bergeron’s outstanding two-way presence. 
Secondly, the Lightning’s goal scorers in Game 1 were Sean Bergenheim, Brett Clark, Purcell, Mac-Andre Bergeron and Simon Gagne. Boston shut out Martin St. Louis, Steven Stamkos and Vinny Lecavalier yet still didn’t win. Odds are, those big guns will get going soon enough.
Lastly – even though it was just one game – Tim Thomas looked positively tired in Game 1. What if his body is giving out on him?
The pick:
The Bruins should bounce back eventually but it may not happen until they hit the road, kind of like what we saw from them during the Montreal series. The Tampa checkers gave them fits in Game 1; I think the top snipers may take the mantle and lead Tampa to another improbable win in Game 2.
Lightning vs Bruins prediction: Lightning 4, Bruins 2
Money Line: Lightning +130
Spread: Lightning +1.5
Over/Under: OVER 5.5
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