NHL Betting Alert: Bruins Aim to Feast on Wounded Penguins

Boston Bruins: Own a tenuous grip on a playoff spot

Sporting a 16-9-4 record, Boston owns one of the two Eastern Conference Wild Card playoff positions and they are fourth in the Atlantic Division. That said, if the Bruins games in hand over Montreal, Detroit and Ottawa are calculated as wins, they would move up to first in the Atlantic – one point ahead of the Canadiens. Though it’s a fairly strange stat, Boston has not been good during the first three games of each month this season as they are just 1-6-2 during those nine contests. That makes the Beantown Crew a red-hot 15-3-2 over their other 20 games. The Bruins are getting better in that dynamic as the win and two ties were posted to open December and Boston is 3-1-3 so far this month. In their last contest on Monday, the B's let a 2-0 first period lead slip away and dropped a 3-2 (OT) decision at home to the suddenly hot Edmonton Oilers. Boston's 3.17 goals per game ranks second in the NHL.

Pittsburgh Penguins: Injuries + lack of chemistry plague Crosby & Co

What’s wrong with Pittsburgh was a question being asked after the Penguins lost their first three games and were outscored by a 8-3 margin. Though rarely winning big, Pittsburgh quieted the critics as they went on a 10-2-0 roll and trailed the Rangers by just four points in the Metropolitan Division on November 12. The question has resurfaced though as Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin & Crew are on a 5-6-3 slide and have dropped eleven points behind Metro leading Washington. The Pens are also three points out of the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Recent injuries, particularly to Marc-Andre Fleury and Kris Letang make the path back to winning a rough one. The Penguins last match was a 4-1 home loss to Washington and Fleury’s concussion issues surfaced after that rivalry battle. Pittsburgh's 25th ranked 2.31 GPG is a source of concern - though they still deserve a degree of respect.

Boston vs Pittsburgh NHL Prediction: Rejuvenated recently, allowing two goals during three starts, Tuukka Rask (11-7-3) gets the call for Boston in net tonight. Jeff Zatkoff (2-1-1 GAA 2.43) will be asked to fill the huge hole left by the loss of Fleury and he makes his first appearance since November 28 here. Dating back to their four-game sweep during the 2013 Eastern Conference Final, Boston is 8-1-1 versus Pittsburgh. These teams played into overtime twice last year as each team won 3-2 but Boston claimed the season series with a 2-0 shutout back in March. Siding with the healthier team, that’s playing slightly better hockey (4-2-1) at home recently, back the Bruins with a 500 unit wager on the money line price posted at the Bovada sportsbook. Click the odds image below for LIVE NHL action.

Boston Bruins vs Pittsburgh Penguins – Bovada Sportsbook NHL Betting Lines

Category : Betting Picks