Saturday, June 13, 2015

Stanley Cup Finals - Game 5

For Updated Odds on This Game Click Here

The Chicago Blackhawks take on the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals. The series is tied 2-2 after Chicago evened the series on Wednesday. The opening line has Chicago at +109 and Tampa Bay at -120. The over/under has been set at 5.5 in this pivotal Game 5.

Game 4 was another tight one in this series. It was the 4th straight game that was decided by one goal and it was the Blackhawks who came out victorious 2-1. This is now only the third finals in NHL history (others were 1951 and 1968) to have each of the first four games be decided by one goal. Brandon Saad's goal at the 6:22 mark of the 3rd period ended up being the difference for Chicago. "Saad's been great," Chicago coach Joel Quenneville said. "I loved his game tonight. Great power move to the net. He's big, fast and dangerous. A very good performance." Corey Crawford had 24 saves in 25 opportunities for the Hawks as well. "We've seen in this series, when we've had the lead briefly, they've always seemed to bounce back," Jonathan Toews said of the Lightning. "We did a better job at stopping them in the third period. It was going to get crazy in some moments, and we did a good job of handling that."

For Tampa Bay, 20-year-old rookie Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 17 of Chicago's 19 shots in his start due to the Ben Bishop injury. "If you told me he was going to come in and give up just two goals, that's a hell of a job in my book," Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. "That kid gave us every chance to win the hockey game. We just scored one goal. I thought he was great."

The Blackhawks are 7-1 in their last 8 after scoring 2 goals or less in their previous game and are 5-2 in their last 7 when their opponent scores 2 goals or less in their previous game. They are 5-2 in their last 7 Stanley Cup Finals games and are 88-36 in their last 124 when their opponent allows 2 goals or less in their previous game. Chicago is 11-5 in their last 16 vs. a team with a winning record and are 11-5 in their last 16 overall. The over is 4-0-1 in the Blackhawks last 5 Saturday games and is 6-1-2 in their last 9 road games vs. a team with a home winning % of greater than .600. The over is also 6-1-2 in the Blackhawks last 9 after scoring 2 goals or less in their previous game and is 4-1 in their last 5 after allowing 2 goals or less in their previous game. The under is 10-4-3 in Chicago's last 17 games playing on 2 days rest and is 5-2-1 in their last 8 vs. the Atlantic Division.

The Lightning are 4-0 in their last 4 games playing on 2 days rest and are 9-3 in their last 12 vs. a team with a winning % above .600. They are 37-14 in their last 51 home games and are 9-4 in their last 13 when their opponent allows 2 goals or less in their previous game. Tampa Bay is 9-4 in their last 13 after scoring 2 goals or less in their previous game and the over is 5-1-1 in their last 7 home games. The under is 4-1-1 in Tampa's last 6 games playing on 2 days rest and is 4-1 in their last 5 overall. The under is also 4-1-1 in their last 6 vs. the Western Conference and is 4-1 in their last 5 Stanley Cup Finals games.

In head to head matchups, the under is 5-1 in the last 6 meetings and the over is 5-2 in the last 7 meetings in Tampa Bay. The home team is 5-2 in the last 7 meetings. The Blackhawks are 3-8 in the last 11 meetings and are 1-5 in the last 6 meetings in Tampa Bay.

Chicago Blackhawks Betting Trends

Chicago Blackhawks are 62-41-0 Against the Spread

Chicago Blackhawks are 38-50-0 against the Over/Under

Tampa Bay Lightning Betting Trends

Tampa Bay Lightning are 64-42-0 Against the Spread

Tampa Bay Lightning are 53-48-0 against the Over/Under

Injuries to Watch

Chicago Blackhawks

05/08/15 D Michal Rozsival Ankle out for season

Tampa Bay Lightning

10/06/14 D Mattias Ohlund Knee out indefinitely
06/12/15 C Tyler Johnson Undisclosed probable Saturday vs. Chicago
06/10/15 GO Ben Bishop Lower Body ""?"" Saturday vs. Chicago

Tony's Pick: Take Chicago

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