Stanley Cup Finals Odds and Preview
The Boston Bruins swept through the conference finals en route to the Stanley Cup Finals. Will they hoist the trophy with another impressive showing in the best-of-7 series versus the St. Louis Blues?
According to oddsmakers, the Bruins are a -155 favorite to win the Stanley Cup. St. Louis has odds of +135. Our NHL Futures Page shows where every team’s odds stacked up at the start of the season before we arrived at the last two teams remaining.
Boston advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals via a decisive Eastern Conference Finals sweep in which it outscored the Carolina Hurricanes by a count of 18-5 over four games. The Bruins have won their last seven playoff games after overcoming a 2-1 series deficit against the Columbus Blue Jackets in the conference semifinals. Boston entered the postseason with the second-best record in the Eastern Conference, going 49-24-9 during the regular season.
Veteran left winger Brad Marchand has paced the Bruins in the playoffs as he has registered seven goals and 11 assists over 18 games. David Pastrnak has accounted for seven goals and eight assists. Center David Krejci has racked up four goals and 10 assists. Goaltender Tuukka Rask has gone 12-5 with a 1.84 goals-against average and .942 save percentage.
The Blues are the underdogs in this series, going on the road the first two games, but they have been one of the hottest teams in the NHL since calling up rooking goaltender Jordan Binnington in Decemer. St. Louis has won its last three playoff games as it secured a 4-2 series win over San Jose, winning the clincher by a score of 5-1 on its home ice Sunday afternoon. The Blues ended the regular season with a 45-28-9 record and 99 points, tied for fourth-most in the Western Conference.
St. Louis is being led in the postseason by left winning Jaden Schwartz as he has accumulated 12 goals and four assists over 16 games. Center Ryan O’Reilly has three goals and 11 assists, while three players – defenseman Alex Pietrangelo, left winger David Perron and right winger Victor Tarasenko – have all registered 13 points. Binnington has a 12-7 record, 2.36 ERA and .914 save percentage.
The Blues are playing in their first Stanley Cup Finals since 1970, while the Bruins defeated the Vancouver Canucks in the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals.
Prediction:
While the Blues have had a dream run to the Stanley Cup Finals, I don’t see them having quite enough firepower to down the Bruins in this series. Rask is playing lights-out in goal and as long as Tarasenko doesn’t find a way to completely carry the Blues offense, I don’t see St. Louis getting four wins here. Binnington has had a great rookie campaign, but I don’t think he’ll be able to stand on his head enough to keep Marchand and company from celebrating another championship for the city of Boston.
STANLEY CUP FINALS SERIES PICK: BOSTON BRUINS -155