Boston Bruins vs Pittsburgh Penguins 1/2/23 NHL Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Pittsburgh Penguins and the Boston Bruins meet in NHL action from Fenway Park on Monday night.

The Pittsburgh Penguins will try to snap a four-game losing streak after a 4-2 loss to New Jersey last time out. Sidney Crosby has a team-high 43 points with 19 goals and 24 assists while Evgeni Malkin has 34 points split between 12 goals and 22 assists. Jake Guentzel has also chipped in 33 points with 15 goals and 18 assists this season. Tristan Jarry has gone 15-5-4 with a 2.78 GAA and a .917 save percentage while Casey DeSmith is 4-6-2 with a 3.00 GAA and a .912 save percentage in goal for Pittsburgh this season.

The Boston Bruins will try to bounce back from a 4-3 OT loss to the Buffalo Sabres last time out. David Pastrnak has 50 points with team-highs of 25 goals and 25 assists while Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand each have 30 points with Bergeron split between 15 goals and 15 assists while Marchand has 20 assists.  Linus Ullmark’s gone 20-1-1 with a 1.90 GAA and a .938 save percentage while Jeremy Swayman’s gone 7-3-3 with a 2.68 GAA and an .897 save percentage this season.

Pittsburgh is 0-4 in their last 4 games overall and 0-4 in their last 4 games against the Eastern Conference while the over is 2-0-2 in their last 4 games overall. Boston is 20-6 in their last 26 games against the Metropolitan division and 17-5 in their last 22 games against a team with a winning record while the over is 5-1 in their last 6 Monday games.

I get the case to be made for either side in this game, but I’m looking at the Bruins here. Boston is simply playing too well, even with the occasional OT loss here and there to go against and while these outdoor games can be an equalizer with the elements, I think the Bruins will be pumped up to play it in front of their home fans. I’ll probably just watch this one as a fan, but I’ll lean towards the Bruins here.