With the 2019 Stanley Cup playoffs reaching a crescendo, there are plenty of betting opportunities for each game. Our experts -- Emily Kaplan, Chris Peters, Ben Arledge and Greg Wyshynski -- will be here each day throughout the Stanley Cup Final, giving their best bets for each game.
Game 4 puck line odds: Bruins +1.5 (-300), Blues -1.5 (+250) Game 4 over/under: 5.5 goals
Wyshynski: Look, I don't make this pick with confidence. You could argue, quite successfully, that the Blues have been the better team in three of nine regulation periods in this series, and two of those were when the Bruins were skating with five defensemen. It's bleak. But St. Louis has two things going for it in Game 4. The first is that Game 3 is over. The emotional powder keg of the city's first Stanley Cup Final game in 49 years blew up in the Blues' faces after they didn't convert on an early power play and Patrice Bergeron did for the Bruins. The emotions will be a little more manageable in Game 4. But mostly, it's all on their bounce-back ability. Jordan Binnington's stats after losses in the postseason: 6-2 with a 1.84 GAA and a .935 save percentage. Then again, he had never been pulled in his NHL career, so maybe trends are made to be bucked. Again, it's bleak. Wager with caution.
Pick: Blues -110
Peters: There's nothing like a good, ol' blowout to recalibrate opinions on how the series will go. Then again, I don't know if it recalibrates things so much as it throws a wrench in the expectations. As Greg noted, Jordan Binnington has been as good as any goalie when it comes to bouncing back after a tough game, but has there been a game this postseason in which he looked worse than he did in Game 3? Not by a long shot. The Bruins were buzzing too. The top line got going, and that's not good news for St. Louis. All I know is I'm passing on the over/under in Game 4 with all of the uncertainty that comes with how Binnington responds to being pulled for the first time. I'm leaning toward the over, however. I'm also picking the Bruins to stretch the series to 3-1.
Picks: Bruins and pass (with a slight lean to the over) Stanley Cup Final series picks
Wyshynski: It's almost charming that after one of the most unpredictable Stanley Cup playoffs in recent memory, the championship round pits the two teams playing the best hockey in the postseason against each other. No Cinderellas. No juggernauts. Just good regular-season teams that are rolling at the right time. What's fun about this series is how similar these teams have looked in the past couple of rounds: rolling four lines, getting exemplary goaltending, winning the special-teams battles and paying the physical toll. That said, I like the Blues (+145) to win the series in six games. Boston has home ice, but the Blues have won two of their three series without it, going 7-2 with a plus-9 goal differential. They're peaking at the right time.
Peters: There are some valid concerns about the Bruins having an 11-day layoff, but their seven-game winning streak heading into the break is far more telling about their play. Should Boston come out flat against the Blues early in Game 1, it would matter a little bit, as it makes that game harder to win. But there hasn't been an instance in this postseason when the Blues looked totally vulnerable. They're healthy and locked in. That's especially true of goaltender Tuukka Rask, whom I view as the X factor in the series. As good of a story as Jordan Binnington has been, Rask has been the better and more consistent goaltender this postseason and has played in a Stanley Cup Final before. I think the Blues will give Boston absolutely everything they have, as they're coming in hot too. But I think experience matters, and the Bruins have a lot of it. Bruins in seven.
Kaplan: I like the Bruins in seven, and I think this one will be a slugfest. A good power play isn't essential for a Stanley Cup run (Boston's PP actually wasn't very good in the 2011 playoffs), but let's note that Boston's man-advantage unit is going at a historic pace. Rask has been unbelievable, and yes, the 11 days between games might affect him most, but I can't imagine that the veteran will be fazed by it. While both teams have all four lines clicking, Boston's top line is more dangerous and has the capacity to steal games single-handedly.
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2019 Stanley Cup Final: Best bets for Game 4
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