NHL Stanley Cup Final 2019: Bruins vs. Blues Game 3 Odds, Live Stream
June 1, 2019
After earning their first-ever win in a Stanley Cup Final in Game 2, the St. Louis Blues head home with an opportunity to take the series lead over the Boston Bruins in Saturday's Game 3.
The Blues and Bruins split the first two games of the championship series at TD Garden, with the Blues taking control of the momentum by way of a 3-2 overtime win Wednesday.
St. Louis earned similar results at the start of the Western Conference Finals, but it was unable to capitalize on home ice until Game 4 against San Jose.
In order to put Boston in a difficult position, the Blues must earn their sixth postseason win at home while avoiding the trend of opponents coming into Enterprise Center and stealing results.
Boston will be a formidable foe on the road, as it has won four straight games on its travels in the last two rounds.
Stanley Cup Final Game 3 Information
Start Time: 8 p.m. ET
TV: NBCSN
Live Stream: NBC Sports app
Odds
Via Oddschecker
St. Louis (-113; Bet $113 to win $100)
Boston (+105; Bet $100 to win $105)
In certain years, the team that wins one game on the road would have a significant advantage going into two home contests.
Given Boston's road record and St. Louis' home mark in the first three rounds, though, there is a possibility for the momentum to shift back in favor of the Bruins by the end of Game 3.
The Bruins rolled through the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Finals by winning the final two games of the 4-0 sweep in Raleigh.
In the second round against the Columbus Blue Jackets, Boston picked up crucial road wins in Game 4 and Game 6 to advance.
In their last four road games, the Bruins have outscored opponents 13-2 and Tuukka Rask produced a pair of shutouts.
The Bruins will be forced into one lineup change for Game 3, as they attempt to win their fifth straight road game.
John Moore will likely step up on the third defensive pairing for Matt Grzelcyk, who is in concussion protocol after suffering a hit from Oskar Sundqvist, which consequently got the St. Louis player suspended for Game 3.
Moore said the Bruins could be inspired to win Game 3 for Grzelcyk, per Eric Russo of the team's official website.
"We can certainly draw inspiration for Matt," he said. "He's such a tough guy, he's been getting the job done all year, so for sure it lights a fire under us."
The Blues, who won their last two home games in the Western Conference Finals, have to find a capable replacement for Sundqvist.
As St. Louis head coach Craig Berube noted Friday, replacing the Swede will not be easy because of his all-around performances, per the team's official website.
"You miss a lot (losing Sundqvist)," he said. "He's a good player, does a lot of good things for us on both sides of the puck. Good penalty killer, plays center, wing, great defensively and has produced for us in the playoffs, too."
Zach Sanford skated with the fourth line in Friday's practice, but Berube could go to either Jordan Nolan or Mackenzie MacEachern as well to fill Sundqvist's spot in the lineup.
There is no doubt the emotion inside Enterprise Center will be high. The Blues can certainly benefit from their home crowd, but they also have to be wary that they have dropped plenty of games at home in the postseason as well.
In the first round, Winnipeg came into St. Louis and took two straight games, while Dallas won twice in the second round at Enterprise Center. San Jose also won Game 3 of the Western Conference Final on the Blues' home ice.
In order to swing the series lead in their favor, the Blues need to continue putting a relentless amount of pressure on Rask, who was forced into 34 saves in Game 2.
Boston needs to improve in the shots category after firing 23 pucks at Jordan Binnington in Game 2.
The top players on the Bruins roster also need to be more efficient in their individual battles on the ice. In Game 2, Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, David Pastrnak and Zdeno Chara all had negative plus-minus totals.
We are expecting Game 3 to play out in similar fashion to the first two games with a tight margin of victory on the scoreboard.
Boston has plenty of road experience to bank on, but St. Louis could be inspired by the home crowd and the Game 2 victory to stick it to the Bruins and come out on top.
Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90.
Statistics obtained from Hockey Reference.