The St. Louis Blues will have one more chance to claim their first Stanley Cup championship in franchise history when they take on the Boston Bruins in Game 7 on Wednesday night as +145 underdogs on the NHL odds at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
St. Louis fell flat in its first opportunity to close out the series in Game 6, dropping a 5-1 decision and forcing the club to return to Boston for Wednesday night’s Blues vs. Bruins betting matchup at TD Garden.
The Blues had seized the momentum and home-ice advantage in the series with consecutive wins in Games 4 and 5, but were unable to contain the Bruins’ power play or top scorers in Sunday’s loss as narrow -115 home favourites.
Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak combined on a pair of goals in Game 6, while goaltender Tuukka Rask stood tall, turning aside 28 of 29 shots to lead the Bruins to their eighth road win of this year’s playoffs.
However, the Blues have also powered their drive to their first Stanley Cup Final appearance in 49 years with exceptional play on the road. St. Louis has recorded wins in two of three dates in Boston in this series to improve to 9-3 away from Enterprise Center this spring, and has won 11 of 16 meetings with the Bruins at TD Garden since 1998.
Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington has also regularly risen to the occasion after suffering a lopsided defeat. The 25-year-old rookie was between the pipes for four of the Bruins’ five markers in Sunday’s loss, and has allowed five or more goals on four occasions this spring. However, he has bounced back after each of those defeats, surrendering just seven total goals while going 3-1 in subsequent contests, with a 2-1 overtime loss to Winnipeg in the first round marking the only defeat during that stretch.
But while the Blues look to make history by bringing home their first-ever Stanley Cup, the Bruins will look to leverage the experience of their victory in Game 7 of the 2011 Stanley Cup Final as they prepare for Wednesday’s contest as -165 favourites on the Stanley Cup odds.
The Bruins have demonstrated resilience when facing elimination this spring. The team tallied a pair of wins while facing elimination to rebound from a 3-2 series deficit and claim victory in their opening-round matchup with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Home teams also have a clear advantage in past Game 7 matchups in the Stanley Cup Final, winning on 12 of 16 occasions since 1942.
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