NHL Hockey Betting: Boston Bruins at New Jersey Devils
Monday is the ‘official’ end to the holidays which means we’ll be back to a full card of NHL action for Tuesday. The only remaining game on Monday’s board takes place in Newark, New Jersey tonight as the New Jersey Devils host the Boston Bruins. The Devils are a mess right now and will play this game without forwards Taylor Hall and Vernon Fiddler along with defenseman John Moore. New Jersey is 2-7-1 in their last 10 games and has sunk into last place in the Metropolitan Division though they remain one point ahead of Buffalo for the worst record in the Eastern Conference. To their credit, the Devils have played fairly well at home with a 9-4-2 record though they’ve been awful on the road (5-12-5).
The Bruins are now tied with the Ottawa Senators for second place in the Atlantic Division and they’ve done things just the opposite from New Jersey. The Bruins have been mediocre at home (9-9-0) but very good on the road taking points in 14 of their 20 away games (11-6-4). Boston is 5-3-2 in their last 10 games and have won two straight entering this matchup after taking a pair of games in a ‘home and home’ series with the Buffalo Sabres. Neither team is much offensively–the Devils are the #27 scoring offense in hockey (2.24 goals per game) while Boston is #23 (2.38 goals per game). The big difference has been on the defensive end where the Devils are #27 in the league (3.03 goals per game) while the Bruins are tied for 7th (2.38 goals per game). The Bruins also have the #3 penalty kill in hockey (87%) though their power play has been mediocre at #25 in the NHL (14.3%).
Cory Schneider has been the rock for the Devils in recent seasons but the veteran goaltending is having a very mediocre campaign so far. He’s 10-12-5 with a 2.90 goals against average and a 0.904 save percentage. He’ll be opposed by Bruins’ netminder Tuukka Rask who is having a Vezina Cup level season with a record of 19-7-3 along with 1.92 goals against average and a 0.929 save percentage with four shutouts. Just don’t see a lot of reason to play on New Jersey here with the Bruins and Rask in such excellent form.
BET BOSTON BRUINS -145 OVER NEW JERSEY DEVILS
