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The Bruins and Penguins each have their first shot of moving to the East Finals when they play Monday night. Boston theoretically has the easier task, playing on home ice at TD Garden, however, they are not as large of a favorite as Pittsburgh, who is on the road north of the border. Let's take a look at both Stanley Cup Playoff contests scheduled for Monday. Then be sure to head over to Sportsbook.com's LIVE ODDS and TEAM STATISTICS pages for the latest key betting information.
Philadelphia at Boston 7:00E TSN
The Bruins can't feel too bad losing to the Flyers in Game 4. Philadelphia had to win to avoid the embarrassment of being swept on their own frozen pond and Boston pushed them to overtime before falling.
Normally reliable defenseman Zdeno Chara turned the puck over at center ice, leading to the winner for Philly.
The B's are back home and are 41-16 having won three of their last four games. This is a confident club, knowing what it takes from this point.
"Just play the same way: Play to win," said right wing Mark Recchi, who had two more goals Friday night. "We came in here (Philadelphia) and played two pretty good games. They battled hard and got a big win. But we're going home. We've got home-ice (advantage) in this series and we've kept it."
The Bruins have to revert back to defensive-style, which has allowed them to be 36-13 when they permit two or less goals.
Boston is a -145 money line favorite at Sportsbook.com with total Ov5 and they are unbeaten at home in the postseason (5-0) and 7-0 as Bean-Town favorites. The Bruins are 14-4 UNDER in dark home jerseys when playing with two days' rest.
Philly survived its first elimination game and is 9-2 away after a one goal victory on home ice. Nevertheless, the Flyers are 3-9 after a game where nine or more total goals were scored this season.
Pittsburgh at Montreal 7:00E VERSUS
The Canadiens have kept Sidney Crosby locked up, as he has failed to score in this series and has been held without a point in three of the five conflicts. This has shifted the focus over to Evgeni Malkin, last year's regular-season scoring champ and playoff MVP.
Malkin has been a factor in each contest against Montreal, but he was dominating when his team needed him most on Saturday with the series tied 2-2. Malkin controlled the puck for long stretches of time in the Canadiens zone. He led Pittsburgh with six shot attempts in Game 5 and though he didn't score, he set up a power-play goal by Kris Letang, and later controlled the rubber in the offensive zone before Sergei Gonchar tallied what would be the winner in a tight 2-1 tussle.
The Pens have won five of their last six as visitors and are -175 ML pick to close out series according to Sportsbook.com. Pittsburgh is 5-1 as a visiting favorite of -151 to -200 and 27-14 UNDER in road games after allowing one or fewer goals in previous contest.
Montreal doesn't sound like a team getting ready to play golf and have the summer off. "We're not going to go away. You know that," Habs forward Mike Cammalleri said. "Now we just have to win one game at home and we're right back where we want to be."
The Canadiens might be 6-14 as playoff underdogs, but all six wins have come this postseason and if they can contain Pittsburgh again and limit them to two goals or less, they are 26-14 when the opponent registers that scoring total.
