NHL Odds at JustBet have the Canucks as a -200 moneyline favorite and the over/under total at 5.5.

Boston finished the season 46-25-11 SU, the No. 3 seed in the East. Vancouver was 54-19-9 SU, the No. 1 overall seed in the NHL.

Head-to-head, the Bruins have the upper hand at 7-2-0-1 SU in the past 10 meetings. The teams met once this past season, with the Bruins winning 3-1 as a +130 road underdog on Feb. 26. The last time Vancouver played in Boston was Feb. 6 last season, a 3-2 Canucks win.

The Bruins beat the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Eastern Conference Final, winning the best-of-seven series. Boston won the seventh and deciding game 1-0 on Friday, covering as a -155 home favorite.

The Canucks beat the San Jose Sharks in five games in the Western Conference Final. Vancouver closed out the series with a 3-2 win in overtime of Game 5 last Tuesday.

Game 2 will be played Saturday in Vancouver.

NHL Betting at JustBet has Tampa Bay as a -120 favorite and the over/under total at 5.5.

Boston trailed Montreal 0-2 in the first round before eventually winning in seven games. The Bruins then went on to sweep Philadelphia a year after becoming the third team in NHL history to blow a 3-0 series lead against the Flyers. They now have a 3-2 lead against Tampa Bay in the conference finals after a 3-1 win in Game 5.

Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas was spectacular in Game 5 after a miserable Game 4. He had 33 saves, including a diving stick save on Steve Downie that preserved a one-goal lead in the third period. Two days earlier, he allowed four straight goals as the Bruins blew a 3-0 lead and eventually lost 5-3.

Tampa Bay will be trying to avoid elimination for the fourth time of these playoffs. The Lightning trailed Pittsburgh 3-1 in the first round before coming back.

“Our backs were against the wall before against Pittsburgh,” forward Ryan Malone said. “We’re not going to be able to win two games in one game. So you try to go out there, worry about the first five minutes of the game and you take it from there.”

The Lightning will likely start Dwayne Roloson for Game 6. The veteran goalie was replaced by Mike Smith in Game 5.

Tampa Bay is a -135 favorite and the over/under total is 5.5 in NHL Betting at JustBet.

Tampa Bay beat Boston 5-2 on Saturday in Game 1, but their comeback effort fell short in Game 2 Tuesday as the Bruins prevailed 6-5. The Lightning trailed 6-3 going into the third period, and they were able to score two goals in the final period but time ran out before they could score the tying goal.

Tyler Seguin, the second overall pick in last year’s NHL draft, was a spectator in Boston’s first two series, but he has come on strong in the Eastern Conference finals. He had a goal and an assist in Boston’s 5-2 Game 1 loss and followed that up with a two goal, two assist effort in Game 2.

“He was really the reason we won,” Bruins forward Brad Marchand said. Seguin has been given the opportunity to play in this series because Patrice Bergeron has sat out with a mild concussion. It is unknown when or if Bergeron will return, but he has not been ruled out of the entire series.

Tampa Bay goaltender Dwayne Roloson had a rare off night in Game 2. Roloson was replaced at the start of the third period by Mike Smith after allowing six goals on 27 shots. He has been one of the surprises of the postseason, and he led all postseason players with a 2.01 goals-against average and a .941 save percentage going into Game 2.

NHL Betting at JustBet has the Red Wings as a -140 moneyline favorite and the over/under at 5.5.

In game 5, there was a goal scored by Devin Setoguchi in the first period and then another by Joe Pavelski in the second followed by Niklas Kronwall pouring one in about a minute later.  In the third period the Red Wings found Jonathon Ericsson for a score and then Danny Cleary helped even up the game with another goal.  Tomas Holmstrom scored at the end of the game to give Detroit a 4-3 victory over the Sharks.

Detroit has been shaking up its lineups and it has been making an impact.  Drew Miller, a speedy role player, has been inserted in place of Jiri Hudler.  Detroit also has opted for speed in putting Valtteri Filppula in place of Holmstrom in the top line.

One of the keys to a Detroit comeback will be their ability to slow down the San Jose offense.  In the first period of game 5, San Jose outshot the Red Wings 16-7.  The second period wasn’t all that different either, with the Sharks forcing saves from Howard over and over again.

While San Jose still has the edge in the series, look for Detroit to come out roaring in a wild game six with a little bit of history on the line.

NHL Odds at JustBet have the Bruins as a -150 moneyline favorite and the over/under total at 5.5.

Boston had a 3-0 lead against Philadelphia in the second round of last year’s playoffs, but the Bruins would lose the next four games to become the third team in NHL history to blow a 3-0 lead. Goaltender Tim Thomas, who was on the bench for last year’s collapse, is determined not to let that happen this year.

Thomas was named one of the three finalists for the Vezina Trophy, and he sure played like it on Monday in Game 2. After a slow start in which he gave up two goals in the first period, he went on to stop 46 consecutive shots to lead his team to a 3-2 overtime win.

“He was by far the star of the game,” Bruins coach Claude Julien said. “He stood tall, and if it wasn’t for Timmy, we wouldn’t be standing here with a win.”

Philadelphia blew Game 2 after going up 2-0 in the first period. James van Riemsdyk scored 29 seconds into the game, and he added another goal nine minutes later. That lead quickly evaporated, however, as they allowed two goals within 1:25 of each other before the end of the period.

Flyers goaltender Brian Boucher left Monday’s game in the middle of the second period after he appeared to hurt his wrist. He eventually came back, but he ended up giving up the game-ending goal. Philadelphia has now made goalie changes in five out of its last nine playoff games.

Get NHL Betting Odds at JustBet.

Both Boston and Philadelphia are coming off of first round series that went the full seven games. The Bruins overcame a 2-0 deficit to Montreal and won Game 7 4-3 in overtime on Wednesday. The Flyers at one point trailed Buffalo 3-2 before pulling off two straight wins to end the series, culminating with Tuesday’s 5-2 victory.

Boston is almost at full strength going into the second round. The Bruins are without Marc Savard, whom Boston shut down for the season in February after he suffered his second concussion in 10 months. Andrew Ference, who was part of a collision with Montreal’s Jeff Halpern in Game 7, won’t be disciplined for his part in the collision and will be available.

Philadelphia is also in good shape physically going into the second round. Chris Pronger came back from a broken hand and played the last two games of the Flyers’ series with Buffalo. Leading goal-scorer Jeff Carter, who missed Philadelphia’s last three games with a knee injury, is expected to return at some point in Round 2.

The Bruins and the Flyers played each other four times in the regular season. Boston won three of the four games, and Philadelphia’s lone win was an overtime victory.

NHL Betting Odds at JustBet have the Sharks as -125 favorites and the over/under total at 5.5.

San Jose got the best of Detroit last year by winning the series in five games after jumping out to a 3-0 lead. Game 3 of last year’s series stands out as one of the Sharks’ most significant accomplishments in franchise history. They trailed 3-1 going into the third period at Joe Louis Arena before rallying to send it into overtime, and Patrick Marleau scored in overtime to complete the comeback. The win moved them one step closer to silencing critics who dogged them for their early playoff exits.

This time, the Sharks are coming off of a hard-fought six-game series with Los Angeles. They ended the series with a 4-3 overtime win on Monday. In the clinching sixth game, goaltender Antti Niemi bounced back from some shaky outings and had a solid performance. Despite his strong Game 6, though, Niemi enters the second round with a .863 save percentage and a 3.99 goals-against average.

Part of the problem last season for Detroit in its second-round playoff series with San Jose is that the Red Wings played Game 1 two days after completing a seven-game series with Phoenix. This year, the Red Wings will be well-rested after sweeping Phoenix.

Goaltender Jimmy Howard has been solid for the Red Wings. Through four playoff games, he owns a 2.50 GAA and a .915 save percentage. This will be his opportunity for redemption after a shaky series last year against San Jose.

The Ducks are a -145 moneyline favorite and the over/under total is 5 in NHL Betting at JustBet.

Anaheim picked up a 6-3 win against Nashville in Game 4 on Wednesday. The highlight of the game was Corey Perry’s short-handed goal in the opening minutes of the third period. Perry, who led the NHL with 50 regular season goals, also had two assists.

With the win on Wednesday, the Ducks took back home ice advantage. They gave it away early in the series by losing Game 1 4-1 at home to the Predators. The Ducks were second in the NHL in home victories during the regular season with 26.

Nashville has won the low-scoring games so far this series, and the Predators have lost the high-scoring ones. There were 12 combined goals in the Predators’ two wins and 17 combined goals in their two losses. This is likely because the Predators rely so heavily on their defense. They were third in the NHL in the regular season in goals-against average at 2.32 per game.

The key to the Predators’ defensive prowess is goaltender Pekka Rinne. The 6-foot-5 Finn was third in the NHL in GAA (2.12) and second in save percentage (.930) during the regular season. Outside of Game 1 (27 saves and 1 GAA), though, Rinne hasn’t been as dominant as he was in the regular season. In Games 2-4, he has allowed a combined 13 goals and has not had more than 23 saves.

Vancouver is a -130 moneyline favorite and the over/under total is 5 in NHL Odds at JustBet.

Chicago is on the verge of becoming the second defending Stanley Cup championship team since 1987 to be eliminated in the opening round. The Blackhawks had numerous opportunities to pick up a win in Game 3 on Sunday, but Vancouver goalie Roberto Luongo was too much.

Luongo finished with 30 saves Sunday and the Blackhawks weren’t able to pick up a much-needed win on a night when they had seven power plays. Chicago had a 5-on-3 at one point, but Luongo made some spectacular saves to prevent the Blackhawks from scoring.

Despite the fact that Vancouver was far and away the best regular season team this year, many experts weren’t sold on the Canucks getting past Chicago. This Canucks team appears to be different, however, as evidenced by their 4-3 Game 2 victory. They were challenged by three near comebacks and a frantic final few minutes, but this time they came out on top.

This is the second time the Canucks have held a 3-0 series lead in a best-of-seven series in franchise history. They swept St. Louis in the opening round of the 2009 playoffs.

Chicago has not trailed 3-0 in a series since the 1995 conference finals against Detroit. They prolonged that series by winning Game 4, but they eventually lost in Game 5.

The Flyers are a -165 moneyline favorite and the total is 5 in NHL Odds at JustBet.

Philadelphia’s journey to a second-straight Stanley Cup final got off to a rough start on Thursday. The second-seeded Flyers missed 11 shots during five power-play opportunities to give away home ice advantage in a 1-0 loss to Buffalo.

A 1-0 series deficit is nothing compared to what the Flyers had to overcome last season, though. They trailed Boston 0-3 in the conference semifinals of the 2010 postseason before taking the final four games.

Buffalo owes its Game 1 success to the superb play of goaltender Ryan Miller. He stopped 35 shots for his second career postseason shutout. He withstood a barrage of shots and maintained his composure when the Flyers held a 5-on-3 edge.

Miller’s first career postseason shutout also came against the Flyers. He is 5-2 in the postseason against them and 18-16 against all other teams.

The Sabres, who were 10 points out of a playoff spot as recently as Jan. 17, have been the hottest team in the Eastern Conference. They are 28-11-6 since Jan. 1 and finished the season with four straight wins. They lost their first two games against the Flyers this season, but have now won three in a row.