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The Eastern Conference Finals clash between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Ottawa Senators heads to Game 6 with Pittsburgh holding the crucial 3-2 series edge. Game time for Tuesday night’s matchup at the Canadian Tire Center is set for 8 p.m. (ET) and will be broadcast nationally on NBC Sports Network.
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Pittsburgh at Ottawa Game Overview<br />
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Pittsburgh was able to erase a 2-1 series deficit in the Eastern Conference Finals with a 3-2 victory in Game 4 as a -130 road favorite before making a strong statement that it is ready to return to the Stanley Cup Finals with Sunday’s 7-0 rout as a heavy -177 favorite at home. Prior to this explosion on offense, the Penguins had only managed to score a combined eight goals in their previous five postseason contests. The total has gone OVER or ended as a PUSH in the last three games of this series.
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Credit Pittsburgh for jumping all over the Senators early and often in Game 5 by scoring four first-period goals. Sidney Crosby was the team’s leading goal scorer in the regular season with 44 and he added his seventh tally of the postseason with a power play goal midway through the first period of Sunday’s romp. You can also credit Penguins’ head coach Mike Sullivan for turning to goalie Matt Murray for the past two games. After stopping 24 of the 26 shots he faced in Game 4, Murray was able to turn away all of Ottawa’s 25 shots in his last start.
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The Senators had the early edge in this series, but they let it slip away in Game 4 after falling behind 3-0 in that game. They have now been outscored a combined 8-1 in the first two periods of their last two games. These slow starts have Ottawa on the brink of elimination after getting past both Boston and the New York Rangers as a series price underdog in each of the first two rounds of the playoffs. The Senators have gone 5-3 on their home ice this postseason and the total has gone OVER or ended as a PUSH in six of those eight home games.
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If Ottawa is going to have any shot at forcing a Game 7 back in Pittsburgh later this week with a win at home on Tuesday night, it is going to need defenseman Eric Karlsson and goalie Craig Anderson to quickly return to the form that helped get this team into the conference finals. Karlsson leads the team in total points (15) this postseason on the strength of 13 assists, but he has not been a factor in the last two games while hampered with a foot injury. Anderson has watched his goals-against average spike to 2.44 after allowing seven goals on 49 shots in his last two outings.
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Pittsburgh at Ottawa Game Betting Trends<br />
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The Penguins are 15-5 in their last 20 Tuesday games and they have now won five of their last seven games in this round of the playoffs. The total has gone OVER or ended as a PUSH in four of their last five road games.
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The Senators have won five of their last seven games following a loss by three or more goals in their previous contest. The total has stayed UNDER or ended as a PUSH in seven of their last eight games played on a Tuesday.
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Head-to-head in this conference finals showdown, the home team has won nine of the last 12 meetings and the total gone OVER or ended as a PUSH in three of the last five meetings in Ottawa.
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