Bruins general manager Don Sweeney is calling for more transparency from the NHL and its officials after Sam Bennett's controversial goal became the primary storyline from Boston's Game 4 loss to the Florida Panthers.

"Those questions should be directed either at the director or supervisor of officials, supervisor series, and/or the officials," Sweeney said Monday, according to WEEI. "You want full access and transparency? Then put the officials in front of the microphone."

He added: "We're not in a position to be criticizing the officials. That's standard protocol. We'll get fined as a result of that, so there's no intention on my point to be critical."

Bennett pushed Bruins forward Charlie Coyle into goaltender Jeremy Swayman before potting the equalizer in the second period of Sunday's game. The Panthers went on to win the contest and take a commanding 3-1 series lead.

The Bruins challenged the play to no avail, and the league's official review supported the call on the ice after it was upheld.

"A player, a coach, you ask them about critical plays, good or bad. The people making decisions should explain them," Sweeney said, according to Ty Anderson of 985 Sports. "It's as simple as that."

Bennett's goal was his second hotly debated incident of the series after he escaped discipline for a hit that injured Brad Marchand in Game 3.

Game 5 is scheduled for Tuesday in Florida, with the Panthers one victory from advancing to their second consecutive Eastern Conference Final.

Copyright © 2024 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Find year-round coverage of betting news and insights for all sports by visiting our Betting section and subscribing to push notifications.

We have two high-stakes playoff games on the docket Monday night. The Rangers can close out their series with a win, and the Stars could put the Avalanche on the brink of elimination if they can steal another victory in Colorado.

Let's take a look at the best ways to attack the games.

Guentzel over 2.5 shots + Stankoven over 1.5 shots

I normally advise playing everything straight, but here's a parlay worth an exception.

We'll start with Jake Guentzel. Through four games, he's piled up 18 shots on 33 attempts. That's an average of 4.5 shots and more than eight attempts per contest.

Shooting success against the Rangers isn't new for Guentzel. He's had their number for years, recording at least three shots in 15 of their past 17 meetings (most of which came when he played for the Penguins). He routinely soars past his total, averaging 4.7 shots in that frame.

With the Hurricanes playing for their season - and struggling to beat Igor Shesterkin with any sort of consistency - Guentzel will surely get a healthy chunk of ice time Monday night. Expect him to take advantage, as he so often does versus New York.

Onto the second leg. Logan Stankoven has proven to be a reliable shot-generator. He's recorded multiple shots in 23 of 34 games, good for a 68% hit rate.

The talented youngster has taken things up a notch of late, producing two-plus shots in nine of his past 11 outings. That includes three-plus shots in each of the four meetings with the Avalanche while averaging five attempts per game.

Stankoven cleared his 1.5 line in 13 of 14 contests when attempting five shots or more. He's extremely reliable when generating this kind of volume.

Odds: +142

Nathan MacKinnon: Over 4.5 shots

MacKinnon's enjoyed a ton of shooting success against the Stars, particularly in Colorado: He's recorded five shots or more in five of the past six home games against Dallas. His lone failure came in Game 1 of the series, but it wasn't for a lack of opportunity - the superstar attempted nine shots.

For perspective, MacKinnon averaged 6.7 shots and cleared five in 16 of the past 20 home games in which he attempted nine shots or more.

I think he'll repeat that success in Game 4. The Avalanche are desperate for a win to keep this series tight - and, since they know they can't match the Stars' depth, they rely heavily on their big guns to carry the load. MacKinnon's logged at least 23 in each game this series.

Win or lose, I expect MacKinnon to flirt with 25 minutes of ice while firing attempting plenty of shots to go over his shot total.

Odds: -110 (playable to -130)

Todd Cordell is a sports betting writer at theScore. You can follow him on X at @ToddCordell.

Copyright © 2024 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.