The Boston Bruins’ offense was left for dead in the first 11 periods of the season, but it came alive with four big goals in the third period Thursday to force overtime. The shootout win helped snap a two-game skid, but the offense will need to be just as good Saturday with the Philadelphia Flyers still in town for the second game of this set. The Flyers’ games have had a lot of scoring, so Boston will need to find a way to keep up with Philadelphia’s scoring to win a second straight game.
It might have been easier to bet on Boston to not score in the first period at +118 odds at the hockey betting sites in New Jersey, but why not live a little with two fantastic goalies likely to get the nod Saturday. The first period of Boston’s last two games have both been scoreless and Philadelphia hasn’t scored in the first period of its last three games. The +330 odds on there being no goals in the first period also is easy to pick because of Tuukka Rask and Carter Hart, both of whom have been outstanding to begin the season. Two in-form goalies means few goals in this game. NO GOALS IN 1ST PERIOD Both teams are going to be disappointed with the defensive effort of Thursday’s game that ended up in a shootout. I would expect both coaches to stress the finer points on defense during the off day between these two games, and both teams are experienced enough to take those notes to the ice. At +240 odds, this is a bit more of a risk considering Philadelphia has played just one game this season with less than seven goals. However, Thursday’s game was the first in which both teams scored more than four goals. Boston’s defense has been excellent and its offense has struggled, and I expect a similar pattern again Saturday. It’s worth the risk at the NHL betting sites in New Jersey to bet on a low-scoring affair. UNDER 4.5 TOTAL GOALS It is hard to win when you aren’t scoring goals, and Boston just isn’t producing enough when it isn’t on the power play. The offense seemed to come alive Thursday when its backs were against the wall, but that came at the cost of allowing two goals in the third period as well. The Bruins just aren’t consistent enough with their offense and they don’t have that dominant offensive line that so many teams possesses. Philadelphia is going to have trouble breaking down a disciplined Boston team on the road, but the Flyers at least have better scoring depth in their lineup. The New Jersey online sports betting sites at least made the Flyers the underdog, so I’ll take advantage of that and earn some better odds on a Flyers win. PHILADELPHIA FLYERS TO WIN
Head to Head This is the second of two straight games between Boston and Philadelphia, which are set to face off eight times this season due to the new pandemic scheduling. The Bruins won Thursday’s game in a shootout. Stats Philadelphia won two of the three regular-season meetings with Boston last year, though both of the Flyers’ wins came in a shootout while Boston pitched a 2-0 shutout right before the season shut down. Philadelphia also beat Boston 4-1 in a playoff seeding game once the season resumed over the summer. Five of Philadelphia’s last six wins over Boston in the regular season have come in either overtime or a shootout. Boston’s last two victories and three of its last four wins against Philadelphia were shutouts. Boston scored more goals in the third period of Thursday’s shootout win against Philadelphia than it had in its first 11 periods of regulation hockey this season combined. Only the Anaheim Ducks have scored fewer goals this season in regulation or overtime than the Bruins. Philadelphia has scored the second most goals in the league so far with 19 goals in five games. Travis Konecny’s four goals are tied for third in the league while Kevin Hayes is tied for the league lead with seven points thus far for Philadelphia.
Philadelphia Flyers to win Despite Boston’s flurry of goals in the third period of Thursday’s game, I don’t know if I can trust the Bruins to score even-strength goals consistently. The three 5-on-5 goals Boston scored in that game were the first three even-strength goals of the season for Boston and it was the first time Boston even scored three goals in a game. Philadelphia has the stronger offense to win a tight defensive game between two talented teams.
