Devils vs Bruins NHL Spread/Handicapping
Slumping Devils Try To Right the Ship in Boston Thursday Night
The New Jersey Devils, losers of four straight games will try to get back in the win column Thursday night but the chore won’t be easy. Their opponent is one of the NHL elite – the Boston Bruins who endured a small hiccup during a 2-4-1 stretch ended last week.
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New Jersey Devils (15-12-3-6) at Boston Bruins (23-8-2-2)
When: 7:00 PM ET, Thursday, April 4, 2013
Where: TD Banknorth Garden, Boston, Massachusetts
Broadcast: NHLN-US, MSG, NESN
Devils vs. Bruins Betting Lines from Bovada
New Jersey Devils +1½ -190 +169 Ov 5 -110
Boston Bruins -1½ +165 -186 Un 5 +100
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The team has won two straight ahead of their Thursday night showdown. The big news ahead of this game is the inclusion of Jaromir Jagr into the Bruins lineup – he is an interesting fit into a cohesive lineup that had already been near the top of the standings all season long. Veteran Wade Redden was also added by the Bruins at the deadline to bolster an already solid defense.
The New Jersey Devils are clearly a different team without Ilya Kovalchuk in the lineup. The team has gone south since he injured his shoulder. New Jersey has lost four straight games and is suddenly in a dog fight to stay in the top eight in the Eastern Conference. It has been some sketchy defense that has led to the Devils’ recent struggles – Martin Brodeur is an uncharacteristic 0-1-3 in his last four games with a 2.88 GAA and .867 save % age.
Since his return from injury, Brodeur has looked mortal – not what the Devils need, especially with Kovalchuk out of the lineup. Brodeur has a 3.38 GAA while dropping his last seven starts versus the Bruins.
Offensively, New Jersey is about where you’d expect them to be – middle-of-the-pack in the NHL. They score 2.42 goals per game but are missing their biggest threat on offense. The team scored just once against the Islanders Monday and scored just twice Saturday against the hapless Florida Panthers.
The reason?
New Jersey’s big ticket guys are not doing their jobs with Kovalchuk out of the lineup – Patrik Elias has just one point in four games and David Clarkson has failed to register a point in his last four games.
The team acquired 38 year old forward Steve Sullivan Wednesday in attempt to bolster the offense. He had five goals and seven assists for Phoenix this year.[ad-4437448]
The Boston Bruins are simply not satisfied with their standing in the Eastern Conference – looking up at the Montreal Canadiens simply isn’t an option for the Bruins players and brass. Hence the acquisition of Jaromir Jagr who had 14 goals and 26 points for the Dallas Stars this year. Bolstering the lineup less than a month before the playoffs means one thing – Boston is going for it this year and feels that they are close to having that Stanley Cup mix.
The Bruins haven’t exactly been a team that lights the lamp night in and night out – an average of 2.74 goals per game is OK but not quite elite. It is a good thing for the best defense in the NHL! Boston surrenders just 2.14 goals per game and surprisingly it is backup Anton Khudobin that has been the better of the two keepers lately. He is 2-0-0 with a 1.00 GAA and .973 save % age in two games while Tuukka Rask is 0-1-1 with a 3.39 GAA and .857 save % age in his last two. But Rask is 2-1-1 with a 1.18 GAA in four career starts versus the Devils.
Offensively Nathan Horton has a goal in four consecutive games for the Bruins. David Krejci has back-to-back games with a goal and an assist. This team has a knack of doing just enough to win and letting the defense and goaltending take over.
However Boston has scored 33 goals in winning nine of the last 10 meetings with Boston while surrendering only 14 over that span.
Betting Prediction
A few trends to consider:
• NJ are 1-9 in their last 10 road games.
• NJ are 1-7 in their last 8 vs. Northeast.
• NJ are 11-2 in their last 13 Thu. games.
• Under is 8-3 in BOS last 11 Thu. games.
• Under is 18-7-3 in BOS last 28 overall.
• Home team is 6-2 in the last 8 meetings.
• Under is 5-2-1 in the last 8 meetings in Boston.
The Devils are a struggling team – just one win in their last 10 games on the road while the Bruins have lost just twice on home ice all season long. Boston will likely be without Patrice Bergeron who left Tuesday’s game with a possible concussion but Jaromir Jagr should do more than fill that void.
The Bruins have a ton to play for – Montreal is in their sights.
There is no way we see a letdown on Thursday – the Bruins will respond and continue their domination over the struggling Devils.
Pick: Boston Bruins -186
