The Toronto Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins meet Thursday in NHL action at the TD Garden. Let’s preview this game and give out a pick and prediction.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are averaging 3.4 goals per game and are scoring on 25.3 percent of their power play opportunities. Auston Matthews leads Toronto with 38 goals, Mitchell Marner has 67 assists and William Nylander has 267 shots on goal. Defensively, the Toronto Maple Leafs are allowing 2.7 goals per game and are killing 80.7 percent of their opponent’s power plays. Matt Murray has given up 74 goals on 761 shots faced, and Ilya Samsonov has allowed 92 goals on 1,084 shots.
The Boston Bruins are averaging 3.7 goals per game and are scoring on 22.3 percent of their power play opportunities. David Pastrnak leads Boston with 56 goals, Brad Marchand has 43 assists and Patrice Bergeron has 241 shots on goal. Defensively, the Boston Bruins are allowing 2.1 goals per game and are killing 86.9 percent of their opponent’s power plays. Linus Ullmark has given up 88 goals on 1,406 shots faced, and Jeremy Swagman has allowed 68 goals on 844 shots.
The Maple Leafs are 0-4 in their last 4 games following a win and 5-2 in their last 7 road games. The Bruins are 44-10 in their last 54 home games and 57-16 in their last 73 overall. The under is 4-1 in Maple Leafs last 5 overall. The under is 15-5-2 in Bruins last 22 home games. The Maple Leafs are 4-10 in the last 14 meetings in Boston. The home team is 7-3 in the last 10 meetings. The favorite is 4-0 in the last 4 meetings.
The Toronto Maple Leafs and the plus money is always appealing, and I’m assuming they’ll be up for this one to prove they can hang with the bully on the block. However, as I’ve said all year, the Bruins are the best team in the league and the most profitable team for bettors. Until those things change, I’m riding with the Bruins. It’s that simple, folks.