Rangers, Blackhawks Face Must-Win Situations Heading In To Game Five Saturday

According to the online sports betting hockey experts, the Chicago Blackhawks were the consensus favorite to win the Stanley Cup this season. That may have changed according to many of them following the first four games of their second-round series against the Detroit Red Wings, as Chicago finds itself facing a three-games-to-one series deficit heading back home for game five on Saturday. The New York Rangers are in a similar position against the Boston Bruins, although they are on the road for game five and there aren’t many people that expect them to win.

Eastern Conference Semi-Final
New York Rangers @ Boston Bruins
Saturday, 5:30 PM ET – Game 5
Bruins lead 3-1

The Rangers battled for every inch in their game-four overtime-win against boston, and Chris Kreider was the hero as he scored the overtime winner. Derek Stepan had a goal and an assist and New York managed to gets its first win of the series, so it’s unlikely that head coach John Tortorella will change his lineup after making Brad Richards a healthy scratch in game one. Tortorella received a ton of criticism for that decision and was called out in the media, to which he responded after the overtime win, “kiss my a$#” in a press conference after the game. Even with all of the swagger and bravado, the Rangers will be in tough to win game five. Boston will have the second change on home ice as well as the fans behind them, and they will do what they can to put this sports betting series away and avoiding having to go on the road for game six.

NHL Betting Pick: Boston Bruins - 150

Western Conference Semi-Final
Detroit Red Wings @ Chicago Blackhawks
Saturday, 8:00 PM ET
Red Wings lead 3-1

The Blackhawks are also down three-games-to-one and will have to climb their way back in to the series, but they have home ice advantage for game five and will be the online sports betting favorites. Nobody could have predicted things falling apart for Chicago the way they have, and the fact that it is the superstar players that have struggled the most is a major concern heading in to game five. Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane have been absolutely stymied to this point in this series, and their failure to respond to what Detroit has done to this point is something that we didn’t see during the regular season. The Red Wings have all of the momentum in this series and the opportunity to put the series away, so look of them to take advantage of the situation and play with a sense of urgency as they try and end it. The idea that Detroit will eliminate the Blackhawks in six games is somewhat hard to comprehend for anyone who hasn’t watched this series, but those that have understand how dominant the Red Wings have been and just how far off Chicago’s game they have pushed them.

NHL Betting Pick: Detroit Red Wings + 140