The Boston Bruins will have a capacity crowd in attendance when they host the New York Islanders in Game 2 of their Stanley Cup playoff series Monday. Which way to lean at BMR’s top-rated sportsbooks?
Monday, May 31, 2021 – 07:30 PM ET, TD Garden
There are two Stanley Cup playoff games on the Memorial Day holiday in the USA, the first a 7:00 PM ET puck drop as the Toronto Maple Leafs host the Montreal Canadiens in an epic Game 7 and then Islanders-Bruins Game 2 starts at 7:30 PM ET from Boston and will be shown on the NBC Sports Network.
With Boston up 1-0 in this series, the Bruins are -550 favorites on the series line at BMR’s top-rated books and the Islanders are +400. The favored exact result is Boston in five at +250. I’m leaning Bruins in six at +350. That the Isles win the next four games to take the series in five is a +2000 long shot.
To win the Stanley Cup, the Bruins have jumped into the second-favored role at +400 behind the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Colorado Avalanche, who are my pick to hoist the Cup. The Islanders are +1800.
Keep in mind that there were no conferences this year so the teams will be reseeded in the final four by how many regular-season points they had. Boston had just 73 and the Islanders 71 so this series winner is all but guaranteed to not have home-ice advantage in the next round.
The favorite is 4-0 on NHL picks in the past four meetings between these teams.
I bet against the Islanders in Game 1 because I thought they would be worn down from the six-game dogfight against Pittsburgh in Round 1 while the Bruins were well-rested. New York dropped the opener 5-2. That score is a tad misleading as it was 2-2 six minutes into the third period.
Anthony Beauvillier’s fourth goal of these playoffs, coming on the power play, gave New York a 1-0 lead at 11:48 of the first. Adam Pelech’s first playoff goal tied it at 2-2 at 12:34 of the second. Jordan Eberle had two assists.
Young netminder Ilya Sorokin, who was so good in Round 1 vs. the Penguins, wasn’t as sharp vs. Boston in allowing four goals on 39 shots. Coach Barry Trotz said he hasn’t decided whether it will be Sorokin or Semyon Varlamov starting Game 2. Varlamov hasn’t played since May 20 after he allowed five goals on 27 shots in Game 3 of the first round vs. Pittsburgh. He went 0-2 in the series with a 3.61 goals-against average and .903 save percentage. Sorokin was great vs. the Pens.
Right wing Oliver Wahlstrom (undisclosed) didn’t play in Game 1 and is not expected to Monday, either. The 2018 first-round pick had 12 goals and nine assists in 44 regular season games. Trotz said that the Islanders will have the same skaters as the series opener on Saturday but that he may shuffle around the line combinations.
"The further you’re going to go in the playoffs, the harder the games are going to get and the harder it will be to win," Beauvillier said. "They obviously have a lot of firepower up front… It’s going to be our job to defend better and create more offense."
New York is 4-10 on the NHL odds in its past 14 road games.
The obvious number one star in Game 1 was Boston’s David Pastrnak with a hat trick, including what essentially was the clincher to make it 4-2 at 15:50 of the third. It was Pastrnak’s second career playoff hat trick, also doing so in Game 2 of the 2018 first round vs. Toronto.
Pastrnak now trails only Phil Esposito (four), Cam Neely (three) and Johnny Bucyk (three) for the most playoff hat tricks in franchise history. He also became the first player in Bruins history to score a playoff hat trick against the Islanders. Pastrnak has five goals in these playoffs. Charlie McAvoy (first of playoffs) and Taylor Hall (third; empty-netter) had the other goals. David Krejci picked up three assists and Patrice Bergeron had two helpers. Tuukka Rask allowed two goals on just 22 shots.
The opener was the first time since March 7, 2020, that Boston’s TD Garden was filled to capacity due to the pandemic.
"You could feel the energy. We were all excited. In the warmup, it felt like 22 players playing their first NHL game, everybody looking around, so many people. Definitely a different game than the rest,” Pastrnak.
Boston outshot New York 40-22 and had 35 scoring chances (12 high danger) to New York’s 11 (2 high danger). The news was not all good as winger Craig Smith left the game with a lower-body injury and is in doubt for this one. He has one goal and two assists in six games this postseason. Defenseman Kevan Miller hasn’t played since suffering an undisclosed injury in Game 4 of the first round vs. Washington and won’t go Monday.
The Bruins are 11-1 on the NHL odds in their past 12 at home. We think that will become 12-1 in their past 13.
NHL pick: Bruins at -190 with BetOnline (visit our BetOnline Review)