NHL Betting: Five Things That The Bruins Need To Do To Win It All in 2011

The Boston Bruins survived their rival Montreal Canadiens in the opening round of the playoffs with three overtime wins, including the decisive game seven in which Nathan Horton began his incredible run to the finals. After taking down the defending Eastern conference champion Philadelphia Flyers and the Tampa Bay Lightning to get to the Stanley Cup finals, the Bruins will now have to face their toughest test yet with a battle against the Presidents trophy-winning Vancouver Canucks. Here are the five sports betting keys to the Bruins winning the 2011 Stanley Cup:

Use Size To Wear Down The Canucks

While Vancouver did well against the Predators and Sharks, no team tested them harder than the Blackhawks when they made a commitment to using their sports betting bonus size and strength to wear them down and steal three straight games to push the Canucks to the brink with a decisive game seven.

The Bruins did the same against the Canadiens and Lightning in the first and third rounds, and will need to do so again against a smaller Canucks’ team.

Thomas Will Need To Shine

Both netminders enter this series with a 2.29 goals against average, but Tim Thomas has been the better of the two all year and is on pace to take home the Vezina trophy as the league’s best goaltender. Thomas’ resurgence is the biggest reason why the Bruins are where they are at this pay per head point, and as long as he continues to perform they should be able to push a very talented Vancouver team.

Chara Needs To Make Presence Felt At Both Ends

While the Canucks will definitely send a ton of traffic to the net, it will be the job of Bruins’ captain Zdeno Chara to make his impact felt at both ends of the ice with his ability to clear room in front of his own goal, while acting as a screen on the powerplay at the other end of the ice. Chara will serve as a wall in front of Vancouver netminder Roberto Luongo when Boston has the man-advantage, and the hope is that it will lead to some goals for a powerplay that has really struggled this postseason ahead of the 2011 Belmont Stakes betting race.

Horton Will Need To Put Up Points

Goals have been hard to come by for the Bruins this postseason, and Horton will make the biggest difference if he can continue to produce. After missing the playoffs with the Florida Panthers the past couple of seasons, Horton has more than made up for it and the team is 8-0 in games where he scores.

Depth Will Need To Perform For Bruins
The Bruins have gotten a ton of help from crucial trade deadline acquisitions Chris Kelly and Rich Peverley, and they will need to continue to perform when they are likely matched up against Vancouver’s top line of the Sedin twins. Kelly has been incredible in a defensive role, and will be relied on both five-on-five and shorthanded.