Boston Faces St Louis in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup on Sunday Night
Published June 9, 2019 by Florin P
St Louis Blues return home for Game 6 against the Boston Bruins, hoping to improve their goal production in the series.
The Stanley Cup winner could be decided on Sunday night, as the sixth match of the series between Boston and St Louis is scheduled at 2 AM UK time. As expected, the two teams have fought valiantly and none was able to win back-to-back games and take a decisive lead. A lot of goals were scored in the matches played so far and each time the defeated team was able to score twice. Now that the series returns to Boston, the Bruins are hoping to claim yet another lopsided victory over the Blues.
Key Absentees Hurt the Boston Bruins
After winning the first match on the road and scoring seven goals in St. Louis, the Boston Bruins felt pretty good about themselves. The team was firing on all cylinders and it looked like they were capable of wrapping up the series in five games. Fatigue, injuries and a bit of bad luck have brought those plans to ruin and now, the Bruins are back to the drawing board. They do have home pitch advantage though, and they are regarded as narrow favorites to win the match in regulation time.
888 Sport expects Boston to prevail after 60 minutes, with odds of 1/1 on their victory. Risk-averse punters should probably take the cover of a victory that includes overtime and penalty shootout. One of the main concerns ahead of this game is that key players, such as defender Zdeno Chara are missing or doubtful. Coach Bruce Cassidy will try to find a worthy substitute for this essential player, instead of pushing him for another match. Under these circumstances, the key to victory is for Boston to turn the heat up a notch offensively and return to their goalscoring percentage from games one and three.
St. Louis are Favorites to Win in Overtime
The Blues travel to Boston trying to capitalize on the injuries suffered by Zdeno Chara and Matt Grzelcyk and deal a deadly blow to the host. St. Louis is the better team in the first period of the match, where it frequently took the lead regardless of the opponent. When they are unable to take a decisive lead early on, the matches usually go to overtime and this is when the Blues are really dangerous. They don’t score as many goals as Boston, but they are far better at defending narrow leads and preventing opponents from scoring.
Punters get odds of 5/2 at bet365 Sports on St. Louis to win in regulation time, but they should aim for the even odds on a win that includes overtime. This is a team capable of wearing down opponents and with the Bruins missing so many key players in the backline, this quality is particularly important. Another player worth keeping an eye on is goalkeeper Jordan Binnington, who has slowly but clearly raised his game throughout the series.
