The Boston Bruins and Tampa Bay Lightning meet Thursday in NHL action at the Amalie Arena. Let’s preview this game and give out a pick and prediction.
The Boston Bruins Betting Preview
The Boston Bruins are averaging 3.8 goals per game and are scoring on 27 percent of their power play opportunities. David Pastrnak leads Boston with 37 goals, Brad Marchand has 30 assists and Patrice Bergeron has 162 shots on goal. Defensively, the Boston Bruins are allowing 2 goals per game and are killing 87.1 percent of their opponent’s power plays. Linus Ullmark has given up 53 goals on 857 shots faced, and Jeremy Swagman has allowed 39 goals on 463 shots.
The Tampa Bay Lightning Betting Preview
The Tampa Bay Lightning are averaging 3.6 goals per game and are scoring on 26.9 percent of their power play opportunities. Brayden Point leads Tampa Bay with 27 goals, Nikita Kucherov has 49 assists and Steven Stamkos has 162 shots on goal. Defensively, the Tampa Bay Lightning are allowing 3 goals per game and are killing 80.4 percent of their opponent’s power plays. Andrei Vasilevskiy has given up 86 goals on 1,037 shots faced, and Brian Elliott has allowed 37 goals on 380 shots.
Bruins vs Lightning Trends
The Bruins are 16-5 in their last 21 road games and 41-11 in their last 52 overall. The Lightning are 49-17 in their last 66 home games and 23-9 in their last 32 overall. The under is 3-0-2 in Bruins last 5 overall. The over is 3-1-4 in Lightning last 8 games playing on 1 days rest. The Bruins are 5-2 in the last 7 meetings in Tampa Bay and 5-0 in the last 5 meetings. The road team is 10-4 in the last 14 meetings.
Randy’s Free Pick
The Tampa Bay Lightning are going to get the benefit of the doubt at home, and they’re tough to bet against in these spots. However, we’re getting the Boston Bruins in the underdog spot, something we haven’t gotten a lot this season and something you’re not going to get often moving forward. The value is with the Bruins and the plus money. So, that’s the direction I’m leaning.