Since the last time these two teams met, they have been heading in vastly different directions. The Boston Bruins have remained a threat in the East Division as they have navigated some injuries to their defensemen. Meanwhile, the New Jersey Devils have lost seven of its last eight games and have fallen well out of contention for a playoff spot in the competitive division. These teams have played three very tight, competitive games so far this season, and I don’t expect anything different in the fourth matchup.
What’s special about the Bruins is that their secondary scoring has been on point this season. The top line has produced plenty of goals and points, but what has set Boston apart is how consistent they have had someone else step up and provide some timely offense. A week ago, Charlie Coyle scored twice in a win over the Rangers, but then a false positive on a COVID-19 test held him out of the lineup for a game. Coyle looked dangerous at times, but the lack of ice time while dealing with the false positive had its effects. Now that he’s back in the swing of things, he’ll return to his scoring ways against New Jersey. At +310 odds, Coyle is one of the best values at the legal sports betting sites in New Jersey among the secondary scorers on the Bruins. CHARLIE COYLE SCORES GOAL Boston is one of the best defensive teams in the league and it has been playing like it over the last week. In their last three games, the Bruins have kept teams to just one goal in each contest and they have dominated possession for long stretches of the game. Meanwhile, the Devils have scored two goals or fewer in four straight games and five of its last six contests, including some dud performances against weaker teams. The hockey betting sites in New Jersey are seeing the same trend, so they are offering just +107 odds on the Devils to score less than two goals. However, you can take a bigger risk at +175 odds to bet on New Jersey to score just under 1.5 goals, leaving you without a safety net if the Devils do score twice. NEW JERSEY DEVILS UNDER 2 GOALS The first two games between these two teams couldn’t be decided in 60 minutes and the Devils held on for a slim one-goal win in the third matchup. As poor as the Devils are playing, they have rarely been blown out in games over the last three weeks with four of their seven losses coming by one goal. Boston will need to adjust without Brandon Carlo on the blue line, and having a young, inexperienced group of defensemen is when the Bruins played their shakiest hockey of the season. The NHL betting sites in New Jersey are putting +340 odds on these two teams needing overtime yet again, and that seems like a potentially good bet with Boston coming off an emotional game with Washington on Friday night. GAME GOES TO OVERTIME
Head to Head This is the fourth of eight matchups this season between the Bruins and Devils with New Jersey winning two of the first three contests between the teams. Stats Boston ranks sixth in the league and first in the East Division with a .690 points percentage through Friday’s games. The Devils have slipped down to 26th out of 31 teams thanks to their recent skid. Boston’s top-five scorers all have more points this season than New Jersey’s leading scorer, Pavel Zacha, who has 14 points this year. The Bruins’ top line of Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak have combined for 31 of Boston’s 65 goals this season. That is a larger percentage of goals for a trio than both Edmonton’s and Toronto’s top-three goal scorers. New Jersey has the worst penalty kill and fourth-worst power play in the league this season. The Devils have killed just 62.5 percent of penalties this season and converted on just 13.8 percent of their own man-advantage opportunities.
Boston Bruins to win The season has gotten away from the New Jersey Devils since they last played the Boston Bruins on Feb. 18. New Jersey has lost seven of its eight games since beating the Bruins in Boston a few weeks ago, while Boston has been inconsistent yet competitive. Most of the Bruins’ struggles began with a young defensive corps, but Boston has gotten healthier on the back end and made a veteran signing to help boost the blue line. The Bruins are playing with far more confidence right now than New Jersey, so I’ll pick Boston to defend home ice.
