HURRICANES MAUL BRUINS TO TAKE CONTROL OF SERIES

After an almost effortless sweep of the Montreal Canadiens in round one of the Stanley Cup playoffs, the Eastern Conference champion Boston Bruins have run into a buzzsaw in the form of the Carolina Hurricanes.  Despite needing an unprecedented late game comeback to outlast New Jersey in a seven game opening round series, Carolina now has the Bruins on the brink of elimination after defeating Boston 4-1 at the RBC Center in Raleigh, NC on Friday night.  Carolina broke open a tight 1-1 game with three goals in the final period to earn the victory and a 3-1 series lead, with game five set for the TD BankNorth Garden in Boston on Sunday night.

The ‘canes have been a very profitable sports betting investment during this series, cashing tickets in three of the four games at underdog prices.  They were a +110 home dog in game four, and a sports bettor who has backed the Hurricanes throughout the series has earned a tidy profit of +3.15 units.  The final score landed right on the posted total of 5 for a push.  Carolina’s recent O/U record has reflected their tenacious defense and the stellar goaltending of Cam Ward—the ‘canes have gone OVER only twice in 11 postseason assignments (5 UNDER, 4 push).  After going OVER in the first three games of their first round sweep against Montreal, the Bruins have failed to exceed the total in their past five games (3 UNDER, 2 push). 

Carolina took an early 1-0 lead on Eric Staal’s 8^th goal of the playoffs coming on the power play at 4:54 of the first period assisted by Erik Cole and Ray Whitney.  A Boston power play goal by Marc Savard assisted by Mark Recchi and Michael Ryder early in the second period would deadlock the game at one goal apiece.  This set the stage for the Hurricanes third period offensive explosion, which began at 2:52 with Jussi Jokinen’s power play tally assisted by Rod Brind'Amour and Anton Babchuk.  Jokinen would then turn playmaker, assisting on the Hurricanes’ next two goals—Sergei Samsonov scored at 14:31 with Tuomo Ruutu getting the other assist to make it 3-1 Carolina, and less than a minute later Eric Staal would score his second of the game set up by Jokinen and Joe Corvo to provide the final 4-1 margin of victory.

After the game, Boston coach Claude Julien had few answers and sounded  a tone that the Bruins are a beaten team:

"I think our team has probably picked the worst time of the year to play their worst hockey. When you look at the whole team right now, there isn't anybody that has played up to their potential. ... You can see the frustration on the players right now, and it's certainly getting worse. This is something that has to be resolved before next game, and we don't have much time to do that."

Boston netminder Tim Thomas tried to remain optimistic:

"We've got to be realistic. In being realistic, you've got to know that you can do it. We can win three games in a row. How many times in the season did we do it? ... We still have a chance."

History, however, doesn’t provide much hope for a Bruins’ recovery.  In the long and storied history of the franchise they’ve faced a 3-1 deficit on 21 different occasions and have never come back to win the series.  While their history doesn’t date back as far as the ‘original six’ member Bruins, Carolina has twice held a 3-1 series advantage and advanced on both occasions.  The Bruins have also had a tough time with the Hurricanes on their home ice—since 1996 Carolina is 20-9-2 SU at Boston, including 5-3 SU/ATS during the past three years.  With Boston priced as a hefty -200 home favorite in game five, this could make a play on the ‘canes very attractive.  Certainly the divergent current form of the two teams, the technical advantage enjoyed by a 3-1 series leader in the NHL and the head to head history necessitates a long look at Carolina in this spot.

Should Boston survive Sunday’s game five, the series will head south for game six back at the RBC Center in Raleigh on Tuesday night.  Game seven, if necessary, would be Thursday night in Boston.  The winner of the series will go on to play the winner of the Washington/Pittsburgh series for the right to represent the Eastern Conference in the Stanley Cup Finals.