The East Division finals heads to Nassau Coliseum Thursday, where 12,000 fans will get to experience Game 3 of the New York Islanders and Boston Bruins’ Round 2 series which is tied at 1-1.
The Islanders eked out a 4-3 OT victory on Monday despite allowing the Bruins to mount a 3-1 comeback in the third period to force extra time. Regardless of the quality of the win, the Islanders are back in this series and will have plenty of noise on their side at the old barn Thursday night.
Here are our free picks and predictions for Boston Bruins vs New York Islanders for Thursday, June 3 (7:30 PM ET).
Bruins vs Islanders game info
• Location: Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale, NY
• Date: Thursday, June 3, 2021
• Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
• TV: CBC, NBCSN
Bruins vs Islanders odds
Odds via the Covers Line, an average comprised of odds from multiple sportsbooks.
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NHL Sharp Money and Line Movement Report
By Patrick EversonBoston landed on TwinSpires Sportsbook's odds board as a -130 favorite and is up to -150 at 4:15 p.m. ET. Moneyline ticket count is two-way for Game 3, with the Bruins taking 56 percent of bets, but moneyline dollars are more pronounced toward Boston at 70 percent. The total opened at 5 (Over -135) and is now 5 (Over -122), with ticket count 4/1 and money 3/1 on the Over.
Check out the full line movement for this gameBruins vs Islanders series odds
Bruins: -213
Islanders: +175
Bruins vs Islanders betting preview
Injuries
Bruins: Kevan Miller D (out)
Islanders: Anders Lee F (out)
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Betting trend to know
The Over is 5-1 in the Islanders’ last six games as a home underdog. Find more NHL betting trends for Bruins vs. Islanders.
Moneyline pick
The Islanders bounced back in a big way in Game 2 after getting walloped in the opener 5-2. It wasn’t easy, as New York gave up the first goal yet again and let Boston back into the game after leading 3-1 in the third period. Eventually the East’s No. 4 seed walked it off thanks to Casey Cizikas burying an OT breakaway.
Semyon Varlamov was making his first start in net for New York since Game 3 of the first round. Varlamov lost his starting job to Ilya Sorokin, who gave up four goals in Game 1 of the series. The projected Game 3 starter was busy in Game 2, seeing 42 Boston shots in total. He did, however, give up another soft goal early in the game to Charlie Coyle, which has been a recurring theme for Varlamov and a reason he was pulled in Round 1.
The Islanders had to pot two goals on the power play to get past the B’s. Boston actually outplayed them at even strength (2.48 to 2.3 expected goals) and posted a 56 percent Corsi percentage. The power-play goals shouldn't be a common thing going forward, as the Bruins finished the regular season with the league’s second-best PK while the Islanders had the 12th-worst power play.
New York will be expecting 12,000 fans into Nassau Coliseum for Game 3, but with home teams winning at just a 50 percent clip these playoffs, is there even much advantage with a packed barn? Sure, it’s great for the home team, but you can’t tell us that it doesn’t hype up the visiting team as well, especially a heel like Boston.
The Bruins have had no problem getting good chances against the usually-stingy Islanders and have managed eight goals across two games versus a New York team that allowed just 2.23 goals per game in the regular season. Boston has had 80 scoring chances compared to the Islanders’ 45, per NaturalStatTrick,
In this year's playoffs, no team has allowed more first-period goals than the Islanders (nine in eight games) and New York has surrendered the most third-period goals (nine) out of any of the remaining teams. Barry Trotz’s squad has routinely come out slow and has yet to lead after the game’s first 20 minutes. It may be possible to mount comebacks against the likes of Tristan Jarry and the Penguins, but the Bruins aren’t as forgiving, as they went 20-0-1 during the regular season when leading after the first period. There is a reason the NHL odds have the Bruins as big road favorites.
PREDICTION: Boston ML (-133)
Over/Under pick
For two teams that both finished the regular season in the Top 5 in goals allowed per game, this second-round series has seen its fair share of scoring, with a total of 14 goals being potted. The total closed at 5 for both Games 1 and 2 and the Over hit midway through the third period in each match.
Only five games have closed at 5 in the playoffs (some books closed MTL/TOR GM7 at 5 but not all) this year and the Over is a perfect 5-0 in those contests — New York was responsible for two of those. Even during the regular season, the Islanders saw a total of 5 more than any other team in the league and went 5-0-3 O/U in those games.
New York only managed 13 scoring chances in its 5-2 Game 1 loss, but nearly tripled that total in the 4-3 win on Monday. Boston hasn’t had any trouble creating chances, as the Bruins have amassed 80 total scoring chances in the series and are shooting over 15 percent on high-danger chances in the postseason, per NaturalStatTrick
Both power plays have started off hot to begin the series, and though we don’t expect both units to continue to score at this rate, getting help on the PP for an Over is critical, especially when both of these teams can shut it down with the best of them. Over the two games, both teams are a combined 6 for 14 with the man advantage. Boston and New York both sit in the top four in playoff power-play success.
Varlamov owns the worst goalie stats out of the remaining eight teams. The likely Game 3 starter has a ballooned 3.14 GAA with a .912 save percentage. The Russian goalie has given up the first goal in each of his three starts and has allowed a goal in the first four minutes in each of those games. The Over is 2-1 in his three playoff starts this year.
The Marchand-Bergeron-Pastrnak line leads the NHL in expected goals/60, per MoneyPuck, and hasn’t been its usual shutdown-self as it is allowing 1.8 expected goals/60, which is actually second-best on the team.
We struggle to find reasons to hit the Under on a 5 and today is no exception.
PREDICTION: Over 5 (-125)
Bruins vs Islanders betting card
- Boston ML (-133)
- Over 5 (-125)
Picks made on 6/3/2021 at 4:50 a.m. ET
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