Boston Bruins at Carolina Hurricanes, Game 4 (Canes lead 2-1)
Could we see zero No. 1 seeds in the NHL’s conference finals? That will be the case soon if the Boston Bruins don’t find out what has gotten into a Carolina team that Boston dominated during the regular season.
The top-seeded team in the East has lost two straight and is trailing a playoff series for the first time this year after sweeping Montreal in the first round. But oddsmakers at WagerWeb.com still aren’t convince by Carolina, as it is a +105 underdog for Game 4, with an over/under of five goals.
How impressive was that 3-2 overtime win for Carolina on Wednesday? The win snapped a three-game Game 3 losing streak for Carolina, while Boston lost for just the second time in its last eight meetings with the Hurricanes but second in a row. In addition, it was the first loss for the Bruins in the 2009 playoffs when scoring first.
Jussi Jokinen, who was basically given away by the Tampa Bay Lightning in a salary dump this season, scored the game-winner in OT and has five goals this playoffs – four of them have been either game-tying or game-winning goals. Eric Staal also scored in Game 3 for Carolina, and the Canes are 6-0 this postseason when he scores.
“He’s been phenomenal,” said Staal of Jokinen. “He seems to be finding those areas where the puck is kind of following him.”
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Carolina put 41 shots on Tim Thomas in Game 3 and missed 17 more. At the other end, the Bruins bothered Cam Ward with only 23 shots. Boston coach Claude Julien gave his team the day off Thursday.
“That’s what this whole day off is about,” Julien said. “It’s taking a step back. Let’s regroup here and go back to playing the type of game we know we can play.”
The Bruins are 0 for 9 on the power play this series and might not have top defenseman Andrew Ference tonight as he has been dealing with an injury and missed the morning skate.
WagerWeb.com Key Trends
* Over is 17-5-3 in the last 25 meetings in Carolina.
* Bruins are 6-2 in the last 8 meetings.
NHL Betting at WagerWeb.com
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