Bruins shoot for sweep in Philly

Hockey Betting Lines

05/07/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Bruins will shoot for a sweep of their Eastern Conference semifinal series when they visit the Philadelphia Flyers for Game 4 tonight at Wachovia Center.

The sixth-seeded Bruins are just once victory away from ending this best-of-seven series and securing a berth to the conference finals for the first time since 1992, when they were swept by Pittsburgh.

Meanwhile, the seventh-seeded Flyers will try to avoid getting swept in front of the home crowd tonight. Philadelphia hasn't been swept since losing the 1997 Stanley Cup Finals to Detroit.

Boston won the first two games of this series on home ice, posting each victory by one goal, and then notched a 4-1 decision in Wednesday's road test in Philadelphia. Blake Wheeler recorded a goal with one assist while Mark Recchi added a key power-play score to hand the Bruins the 3-0 series lead.

Miroslav Satan and Patrice Bergeron also lit the lamp for the Bruins, while Tuukka Rask picked up his seventh win of these playoffs with a 34-save performance.

"We haven't been happy the way we've played in our own end. We thought we were just a little lax back there," Recchi said of his club's first two games. "I think we made the conscious effort coming on the road, playing a real good road defensive game. When we did make mistakes, Tuukka was there."

Arron Asham provided the lone offense for the Flyers and Brian Boucher allowed three goals on only 19 shots in defeat.

Philadelphia has held the lead for a total of 1 minute, 39 seconds in this series and that came after Asham's goal 2:32 into Wednesday's contest. Wheeler scored at 4:11 of the first period and Boston would record the game's final three goals.

"It'd be nice to play with the lead, obviously. We haven't had it at all this series and I don't know what to say," Boucher lamented. "It's frustrating when you don't have the lead and it seems like you are chasing all the time."

The Bruins did lose a key forward to injury in Wednesday's victory, as David Krejci suffered a dislocated right wrist that will keep him sidelined for the remainder of the playoffs. Krejci, who has four goals and four assists in nine playoff games this year, underwent successful surgery Thursday Union Memorial Hospital in Baltimore to repair the wrist.

Krejci was injured on a big hit in the first period by Flyers captain Mike Richards, but the Bruins scored on a breakaway just moments after the collision.

Meanwhile, the Flyers could get an important forward back tonight as winger Simon Gagne is expected to be a game-time decision. Gagne hasn't played since April 20, when he suffered a broken toe on his right foot in Game 4 of Philadelphia's opening-round series against New Jersey.

The 30-year-old has two assists in four playoff games this year and posted 17 goals and 40 points in 58 regular-season contests in 2009-10. Gagne is also one of the Flyers better defensive forwards and could give a boost to the club's special teams.

Philadelphia will need all the help it can get, considering the Bruins are a perfect 16-0 when leading a best-of-seven series by a 3-0 margin. The Flyers have faced an 0-3 series deficit in best-of-seven playoff series six times in franchise history and have only forced a Game 5 on one occasion (2008 Eastern finals vs. Pittsburgh in a five-game defeat).

Only twice in NHL history has a team come back from a 3-0 series deficit to win a series. The last time it happened was in 1975, when the New York Islanders charged back to defeat Pittsburgh in the quarterfinals. The Detroit Red Wings were on the wrong end of the other 3-0 comeback, losing the 1942 Stanley Cup Finals against Toronto.

The Flyers are 2-1 at home in the playoffs and were 24-14-3 as the host during the regular season. Boston is 2-2 on the road in the postseason after recording a respectable 21-13-7 record as the guest during the regular season.

If necessary, Game 5 of this series will take place Monday in Boston.

Boston and the Flyers are meeting in the playoffs for the first time since 1978. Each team has won twice in the four all-time playoff series between the clubs. The Flyers won the most notable matchup, beating Boston in six games to win the Stanley Cup in 1974. The Bruins have won the last two encounters, including a five-game series win over Philly the last time clubs met in the 1978 Stanley Cup semifinals.

The Flyers and B's split four games this year in a season series that included Boston's 2-1 overtime victory in the Winter Classic at Fenway Park. Both the Bruins and Flyers had 2-1-1 records in the series.

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Big East Conference odds

Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence

Notre Dame and Louisville appear to have done enough to make the move, so we'll make them locks. The Cardinals, despite a modest RPI, are trending way up and have clinched at least a tie for third in the Big East, which should be more than enough with their pair of big road wins. Villanova got back to .500 and gets back to more solid footing. Syracuse got a very important road win and crippled a fellow contender in the process. West Virginia's fate could be in its hands Tuesday at Pitt.

Work left to do:

Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8.

Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday.

DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ...

West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule.

Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games.

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