The Boston Bruins have earned points in eight straight but enter the most difficult stretch of the season with five straight road games. The B’s kick off the road trek tonight in Anaheim against the lowly Ducks. Sportsbooks opened the Bruins as -175 road favorites with a total of 5.5.
- The Bruins are 1-9 ATS in their last 10 games on the road vs teams with losing records.
- The total has gone UNDER in five of the Ducks’ last seven games at home (avg. combined score: 4.71).
- The Bruins are 0-5 SU in their last five games on the road vs the Ducks (avg. losing margin: 2.4).
Bruins are getting the job done without Pastrnak
Boston ran its winning streak to three in its first game without leading scorer David Pastrnak in a 6-3 victory over the red-hot Chicago Blackhawks in its best offensive output since January 3. Pastrnak will miss at least the next two weeks after undergoing thumb surgery. The Bruins topped Anaheim 3-1 on December 20 to end a nine-game losing streak in the series.
The Ducks finally ended an ugly seven-game losing drought with a 1-0 triumph over Vancouver on Wednesday as general manager Bob Murray won his NHL coaching debut after taking over for the fired Randy Carlyle. The win was only Anaheim’s third in its past 22 games. During the seven-game losing slide, Anaheim was outscored 37-8.
Bruins are a poor puckline bet on the road
The Bruins simply haven’t been covering the puckline on the road when favored against losing teams. In Boston’s past 10 road games against teams with records below .500, the Bruins are 1-9 on the puckline. Sportsbook was dealing Boston’s -1.5 number for a price of +145 as of this writing.
Anaheim has made a habit of going UNDER at home, as the Ducks have cashed UNDERs in five of their last seven at Honda Center with an average combined score of 4.7 goals. Since Anaheim has had a tough time scoring but has been getting solid goaltending, UNDERs could tend to continue to cash when they hit the ice.
My pick: take the Bruins
It’s hard to trust the Ducks in any sort of capacity other than fading them right now, and that’s what I plan on doing tonight. The Bruins are the much better team and are playing excellent hockey, while the Ducks look like a team that’s already thrown in the towel on the season. Boston’s -175 price is a little steep, but if you’re looking to back them to win in regulation, it’s available for -115 at Sportsbook.
