Bruins, Maple Leafs Ready For a Shootout

The Boston Bruins are dealing with their first difficult stretch of the season – and a visit to Toronto might not necessarily cure what ails them as they tangle with the Maple Leafs on Friday night. The Bruins have lost four consecutive regular-season games for the first time in two years, and have struggled to secure points in Toronto in recent years.

Sportsbook Odds Analysis

Toronto opened as a slim favorite, while the total kicked off at 6 (though 6.5s can be had in some places).

Boston News & Notes

After suffocating one offense after another in the early stages of the season, the Bruins suddenly find themselves vulnerable at the back end. They’ve surrendered four or more goals in six of their past 11 games – and while they’ve still gone an impressive 6-2-3 in that span, they’ve seen their goals-against average climb to 2.50 (still fourth-best in the NHL).

But while the sudden defensive issues might concern Bruins fans, they’ve made OVER bettors positively jubilant. Boston is on a 10-4-2 O/U run over its past 16 games, just one season after posting the second-fewest OVERS in the Atlantic Division. And the Bruins are a sizzling 8-2-1 to the OVER in their last 11 road games dating back to last year’s Stanley Cup Final.

Toronto News & Notes

There’s never a good time to lose one of your top scorers, but the long-term injury to forward Mitch Marner could leave the Leafs in an offensive bind heading into one of its toughest stretches of the young season. Beginning with Wednesday’s encounter with the Islanders, Toronto plays five of its next six games against teams ranked eighth or better in goals-against average.

But perhaps that prospect isn’t so scary after all – the Maple Leafs put four goals past Islanders netminder Semyon Varlamov and have scored four in back-to-back games. Unfortunately, Toronto lost both of those contests and has seen its team goals-against average skyrocket to 3.25 for the season, ranking among the bottom 10 teams in the NHL.

Betting Pick: OVER 6

Neither team is defending all that well at the moment, and both teams are capable of filling the net with impunity. The OVER feels like the safest play here.