On Tuesday, the Boston Bruins (44-20-5, 93 points) will travel to Little Caesars Arena to take on the Detroit Red Wings (26-34-9, 61 points) in an Atlantic Division battle.
The Bruins enter Tuesday’s contest trending upward, playing some of their best hockey of the season as the playoff hunt intensifies. They’re currently in third place in the Atlantic, just two points behind the Toronto Maple Leafs (45-19-5, 95 points) for second place. However, the Tampa Bay Lightning (43-19-7, 93 points) are right on their heels, looking to knock Boston down to a wildcard spot.
On the other side, the host Red Wings have struggled recently. Winless six-straight games (0-4-2), Detroit is coming off a 5-2 loss to the Ottawa Senators in the second game of a home-and-home sweep by the Sens. The Red Wings are fifth in the Atlantic Division, 13 points out of a wildcard spot.
The Bruins are listed as favorites at -205.
Bruins Look to Keep Hot-Streak Going
In March, Boston posted the second-best record in the NHL (10-3-1), and they’ve stayed hot at the start of April.
The Bruins haven’t lost two-straight games since falling to New York Rangers and New York Islanders on February 15 and 17. Since then, the Bruins have won 16 of 20 games.
In their last game, Boston pulled out an overtime victory over the Blue Jackets, 3-2, thanks to a two-goal night, including the game-winner, from Jacob DeBrusk.
The Bruins have shut down opponents defensively, holding six of their last eight opponents to 2 goals or less.
Offensively, they’ve been on fire, scoring 26 goals over their last five games. David Pastrnak has led the way for the Bruins, scoring a team-high 38 goals, tied for ninth in the NHL. Pastrnak shares the team-high in points (71) with Boston’s assist leader (40), Brad Marchand.
The Bruins should come out motivated to earn two points against the struggling Red Wings. After taking on Detroit on Tuesday, the home stretch for Boston won’t be easy. In their 12 remaining regular-season contests, the Bruins will play eight teams with winning records.
Detroit Red Wings Hope to Break Season-Long Win-less Streak
The Red Wings have taken a nosedive recently, falling quickly out of playoff relevance.
Detroit is in the middle of a six-game winless streak, tied for their longest such streak of the season. Entering Tuesday’s contest with Boston, Detroit has just three wins over their last 18 games (3-12-3).
No one gives up more goals per game than the Red Wings (3.86 GF/G), and no team in the NHL has given up more goals in total than Detroit (266). 26-year-old goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic has struggled during his first season in Detroit, going 17-21-8 with a .900 SV% and a 3.31 GAA in 45 starts.
The Red Wings’ offense hasn’t been much better, averaging 2.81 GF/G, sixth-worst in the Eastern Conference.
There is reason to hope for the future in Detroit, as a combo of youngsters has some flashes of potential. 25-year-old Dylan Larkin leads the team in goals (29), followed by 26-year-old Tyler Bertuzzi (26) and 19-year-old Lucas Raymond (22).
Betting Prediction
Boston is playing the better hockey coming into Tuesday’s Detroit contest, and the Bruins have more to play for than the Red Wings. They’re also in the thick of competing for a playoff spot and possibly the second-place seed in the Atlantic Division.
Boston has played well on the road this season, boasting the third-best record away from home in the NHL (22-11-2), behind only the Washington Capitals (21-7-5) and the Pittsburgh Penguins (22-9-5).
While the Red Wings have been much better at home (17-13-6) than on the road (9-21-3), they’ve lost eight of their last ten games at Little Caesars Arena. Over those ten games, the Red Wings have been outscored 20-46.
This season, the Bruins are 2-1 against the Red Wings, winning their last meeting, 5-1 on January 2. Over the season series, Boston has outscored Detroit 11-4.
The Bruins at -205 are the pick to play for this one.
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