Nikita Kucherov's second overtime winner of the postseason gave the Tampa Bay Lightning (60-30-3-5) a 2-1 series lead in the Eastern Conference Finals. They'll look to put the New York Rangers (62-27-3-5) on the brink of elimination on Friday night at home.
ODDS ANALYSIS
Tampa Bay won Game 3, but matters were really as tight as could be, with both teams blowing two-goal leads before the Bolts won it in overtime. The spread has adjusted just a bit down to Tampa Bay -120, which is about where we figure to see the home teams in this series the rest of the way.
The total remains set at 5, though the vig on the over is less now after a wild 11-goal outburst in Game 3.
GOALIE REPORT
It was a nightmare game for both Ben Bishop and Henrik Lundqvist in Game 3, though for our money, Lundqvist looks the more shaken of the two goalies by it. All of a sudden, a man who had only allowed a total of 19 goals in 13 games prior to Game 2 of this series has allowed 12 goals in less than six periods of total time on the ice.
Many of the goals were of the relatively soft variety, and the Swede would tell you that he really should have stopped Kucherov's shot on in OT.
QUOTE TO NOTE
"We've got a pretty quick team, and they have a quick team. I don’t know how it looks to everybody else, and I don't know how it looks on TV, but when you're standing there, it's just, pardon the pun, it's lightning fast. It's just amazing how the skill level and the speed and how these guys can play the way they do at that high pace." – Tampa Bay head coach Jon Cooper on the speed of this series.
SITUATIONAL BETTING
It's tough for live bettors to be able to tell who is on the ice at any given moment, but know that any time Tampa Bay's "Triplets" are on the ice, they are the most dangerous line out there. Tyler Johnson leads the NHL with 12 goals, and he has six assists in the playoffs, Kucherov has 16 points, while Ondrej Palat has 13 points. When these three are on the ice together, there's a good chance that something good is going to happen for the Bolts, and live bettors should be very aware of that.
PROP TALK
The Rangers might have scored five times in Game 3, but the man who didn't was Martin St. Louis, who is being given a tremendously hard time by the fans he played in front of for years and years. St. Louis still doesn't have a goal here in the playoffs, and until he sees the puck go in the back of the net, we don't see any sense betting on him to do so.
ANALYSIS & PREDICTION
The Rangers really look shaken right now, and we wonder if they’re successfully going to get off of the mat after a loss the likes of the one they just suffered.
At some point, St. Louis and Rick Nash just have to get going, and we don't see it happening. Meanwhile, Steven Stamkos got his name back on the stat sheet on Wednesday night, and the "Triplets" are rather unstoppable at the moment.
It's all looking like the Lightning are on the verge of their second Stanley Cup Finals appearance in team history.
Tampa Bay 3, New York 1
BookMaker opened the odds for this Friday game before anyone else on the internet. The Lightning debuted at -120, while the total came into the forefront at 5. Now you can wager in-game while the action unfolds with BookMaker's live betting option.
BookMaker offers play-by-play betting odds for live sporting events every day! The user-friendly interface on your smartphone or tablet provides an easy way to place bets on the go. Mobile betting lines are updated by the minute, so click here to start gambling on thrilling live action at BookMaker Sportsbook! Game 4 of the series between the New York Rangers and the Tampa Bay Lightning will start at 8:00 p.m. ET on Friday, May 22, 2015 at Amalie Arena in Tampa, FL. The contest will be broadcast nationally on NBC Sports Network.
