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Series Updates for Thursday, April 20th
Florida Panthers tie series 1-1
The Bruins sat back in Game 1, and it paid off. In Game 2, the Bruins came out looking to push the pace, but Panthers’ goaltender Alex Lyon kept the game scoreless until his team was able to break the tie early in the second period. After that, despite tying the game a couple of times, the Bruins never seemed to get their mojo back and the Panthers completely took over in the third period.
Do I still think the Bruins will win the series? Yes. Boston is still the better team, and one ugly loss doesn’t change that. The loss of Patrice Bergeron is being felt, though, and that wasn’t something I factored in when I made my original prediction. Florida’s share of expected goals was close to 70 percent in the game because the Bruins aren’t getting nearly enough clean looks from the slot area and are making Lyon look a lot better than he is.
Bergeron has been skating on his own but it’s unclear how close he is to returning to the lineup. Boston’s Game 3 moneyline price ranges from -146 to -163 so shop around if you want to bet on the Bruins. Without Bergeron, I think Boston should be priced around -150 in Florida, so whether there’s value depends on his status.