The Boston Bruins are a rather sizable favorite here in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals, but I think they'll prove well worth the juice.

The Bruins have had plenty of time to get ready for this contest (11 days) following a four-game sweep of Carolina while St. Louis battled six tough games against the Sharks.

Too much time off for Boston? I don't think that is a thing this late in the season, and we can note that they held an intrasquad scrimmage on Thursday. "Once you go 10 days with no playing, I think it's good to get a little action in and get used to that pace," said Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask. "I think that's what we wanted to accomplish, and it looked good."

As the clincher; the home team is 4-0 in the last four meetings between these two clubs.

8* play on Boston Bruins.