With Bobby Ryan and the Ottawa Senators having won three one-goal decisions in a row to put the Boston Bruins on the brink of elimination, oddsmakers’ lines seem to anticipate that a turnaround could be in the offing.
The Bruins are a slight -120 moneyline favorite against the -110 underdog Senators with a five-goal total for their Game 5 matchup on Friday, according to sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com. Ottawa, which is up 3-1 in the best-of-seven series, is actually 8-2 straight-up in its last 10 home games against the Bruins.
While the Senators and standout defenseman Erik Karlsson are only 7-10 at home against fellow Atlantic Division teams this season, they have been able to frustrate Boston during this series. They are also 8-1 in the last nine games that goalie Craig Anderson has started against Boston.
The Bruins will once again not have a full lineup since defensemen Torey Krug (lower body), Adam McQuaid (upper body) and Brandon Carlo (upper body) are not expected to play. Up front, Boston is also floundering at drawing penalties, having earned just seven power plays in the last three games.
The total has gone OVER in four of the Bruins’ last six divisional road games, with one push, according to the OddsShark NHL Database. The total has gone UNDER in seven of the Senators’ last 10 home games.
In the other Game 5 of an Eastern Conference series, the Washington Capitals (-210) are heavy favorites at home against the Toronto Maple Leafs (+170) with a 5.5-goal total. The moneyline is significantly lower from where it closed for the Capitals’ first two home games in the series, which was before Toronto banked a win.
The Capitals and their offensive leaders such as Alex Ovechkin and T.J. Oshie were able to seize on some structural breakdowns by Toronto in a series-tying 5-4 win on Tuesday. The Leafs, particularly a fledgling defensive corps featuring the likes of Jake Gardiner and Nikita Zaitsev, will have to pare down their mistakes. It does appear that Toronto, with their young guns such as Auston Matthews, will keep getting their share of scoring chances.
Washington is 6-2 in its last eight home games as a favorite of -200 to -500 on the moneyline. However, Toronto is 4-1 in its last five games as a road underdog.
The total has gone UNDER in six of Toronto’s last nine road games as an underdog. The total has also gone UNDER in four of the Capitals’ last five home games in April.