St. Louis Blues at Boston Bruins Stanley Cup Game 2 Betting Odds
- Blues odds: +151
- Bruins odds: -167
- Over/Under: 5.5
- Time: 8 p.m. ET
- TV: NBCSN
>> All odds as of 11 a.m. ET. Download The Action Network App to get real-time NHL odds and track your bets
The Bruins took Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final in style, shelling the Blues over the final 40 minutes of the contest to win, 4-2. Boston has now won eight games on the spin and has yet to lose a game this month.
A run like that usually will spike a team's odds, but the Bruins opened at -165 for Game 2 after closing as consensus -175 favorites in Game 1.
The Bruins did spend plenty of time in the -150/-155 range, but late money pushed their price close to -180 at most sportsbooks, and given their form, I'd imagine bettors will flock to the B's as puck drop draws closer.
It's hard to blame casual punters for running to bet the Bruins. They looked dominant for most of Game 1 and outplayed the Blues by basically every metric, including the only one that matters.
Boston ended up controlling 56% of the shot share and 73% of the expected goals — Boston generated 1.73 xG at 5-on-5 compared to 0.64 for the Blues — in Game 1.
The Bruins passed the eye test, the sniff test and the analytics test in the curtain-raiser. Who wouldn't want to bet this team in Game 2?
Game 2 Betting Analysis
The good news for St. Louis is that Monday night will likely be its worst game of the series. After a decent opening period, the Blues capitulated over the final two frames. Boston walked all over them thanks to some bad penalties and uncharacteristic gaffes in their own end.
The Blues have been one of the best teams in the NHL at suppressing scoring chances and shot attempts this season, but they didn't look like that on Monday night. I expect the Blues to be stingier and more responsible in Game 2. Most importantly, they'll need to stay out of the penalty box if they want to compete with the Bruins.
It's hard to back a team immediately after watching them go down in flames, but it's hard to find any value in Boston's number at this point. At the current odds, the Bruins (-167) have an implied probability of 61.1%.
To put that number in more perspective, you can adjust for home-ice advantage, which is roughly 5% in the NHL. When you do that, you get the Bruins around -139 on neutral ice against a terrific team. That seems a little high, even if the Bruins are the better team.
If you are going to end up betting the Bruins, you might as well get in now because it's not likely that their price will get any better. I'll be waiting out the market and hopping on the Blues.
