The Boston Bruins and the New Jersey Devils meet in NHL action from the Prudential Center on Friday night.
The Boston Bruins will try to build on their three-game win streak after a 3-2 win over Winnipeg last time out. David Pastrnak has 45 points with team-highs of 22 goals and 23 assists while Taylor Hall has 27 points with 13 goals and 14 assists. Jake DeBrusk has 24 points with 12 goals and Brad Marchand and David Krejci each have 26 points with Bergeron logging 12 goals and 14 assists while Marchand has 17 assists. Linus Ullmark’s gone 18-1-1 with a 1.89 GAA and a .937 save percentage while Jeremy Swayman’s gone 7-3-1 with a 2.65 GAA and an .898 save percentage this season.
The New Jersey Devils will look to build on a 4-2 win over Florida last time out. Jack Hughes leads the Devils in scoring with 38 points including a team-high 17 goals and 21 assists while Jesper Bratt also has 33 points with a team-high 21 assists. Nico Hischier also has 29 points with 13 goals and 16 assists this season. Vitek Vanecek is 12-4-2 with a 2.45 GAA and a .908 save percentage while Akira Schmid has gone 5-3 with a 1.96 GAA and a .932 save percentage of his own this season.
Boston is 9-1 in their last 10 games against a team with a winning record and 52-20 in their last 72 games overall while the over is 6-1-1 in their last 8 games played on no rest. New Jersey is 0-4 in their last 4 home games and 1-6 in their last 7 games overall while the under is 4-0 in their last 4 games against the Eastern Conference.
I get the case to be made for a home underdog in a spot like this, but this is still the Boston Bruins we’re talking about, and even on the second half of a back-to-back, they’re the better team. One win for New Jersey isn’t going to suddenly put me on the Devils here. Give me the Bruins and the cheap price.