Bruins Look To Tighten Things Up Defensively In Game Five At Chicago

The Boston Bruins were uncharacteristically soft in their own end in game four of the Stanley Cup Finals, and it cost them in a 6-5 loss. Now they will have to try and bounce back on the road against a Chicago Blackhawks’ team that has been very good at home all year. The Blackhawks exploded for six goals in game four – one more than they had through games one through three combined. A big part of that was the Bruins giving up far too many online sports betting scoring chances, and tightening up in their own end will be key to bouncing back in game five.

Stanley Cup Finals – Game 5
Boston Bruins @ Chicago Blackhawks
Saturday June 22, 2013 – 8:00 PM ET
United Center, Chicago, Illinois
NHL Sports Betting Line: Chicago – 150

Chicago’s six goals made up for the five goals they allowed, but there has to be some concern about the way that Boston kept responding whenever the Blackhawks took the lead. Corey Crawford looked very beatable in game four, and must bounce back with a much better effort to give Chicago a chance to win at home and take the series lead.

NHL Betting Preview: Boston Bruins

The Bruins haven’t forgotten the way that nearly everything they through on net from distance managed to find its way through Crawford, and the key to game five will be getting a lot of traffic on net and making sure they get a lot of pucks at Crawford. The more that Boston is in the Blackhawks’ zone, the less time spent trying to defend against the likes of Patrick Kane and company. Tuukka Rask also struggled in game four with six goals allowed on 47 shots, and will be right there with the Bruins’ defense attempting to bounce back in game five of this online sports betting series.

NHL Betting Preview: Chicago Blackhawks

Kane, Jonathan Toews, and Patrick Sharp all managed to find the back of the net in game four, and will look to keep the offense going by using their speed to create different looks and keep the pressure on the Boston defense. Crawford looked very shaky allowing five goals on 33 Bruins’ shots, but the more time the Blackhawks spend at the offensive end the less time they will have to worry about their goalie giving up a soft goal. Chicago allowed Boston to answer back on four different occasions in game four before finally ending it in overtime, and must play with more of a killer instinct at home in game five.

NHL Betting Preview: Outlook & Pick

The fact that the Bruins were able to answer back so easily every time they went down in game four should be cause for concern moving forward in this series, as Crawford looked very shaky and will likely be tested at every opportunity in game five. Boston will need Rask to bounce back and have one of his better games in this series, and if he does then the Bruins could very well come through with a huge road win to take back control of the series before returning home for game six.