Bruins Aim For Breathing Room In Crucial Matchup With Surging Senators
The Boston Bruins face a crucial test Thursday night when they visit the Ottawa Senators as slim moneyline underdogs on the NHL betting lines at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
Boston enters Thursday’s betting matchup at Canadian Tire Centre holding a slim four-point lead over Ottawa for the second and final wild-card spot in the NHL’s Eastern Conference. However, the Bruins face a red-hot Senators squad that has won 12 of their last 14 games and holds a game in hand on Boston.
Boston has come up short in its last two outings, most recently dropping a 2-1 decision against last-place Buffalo as a heavy -460 moneyline favorite despite peppering Sabres goaltender Anders Lindback with 45 shots.
The Bruins also failed to gain ground on the Washington Capitals, the team they are chasing in the Eastern Conference playoff hunt, surrendering 38 shots on goal in a 2-0 loss Sunday.
Overall, the B’s have tallied just three total goals in their last three outings, but they are coming off a 3-1 win over the Senators early last week, improving to 1-2 against Ottawa this season and an impressive 12-2 in their last 14 visits.
Following Thursday night’s game, the Bruins will head south for weekend contests with the Florida Panthers and the Tampa Bay Lightning before returning home for two critical contests next week against the Eastern-leading New York Rangers and the Western-leading Anaheim Ducks.
In NBA action, the Boston Celtics continue their current two-game road trip Friday night when they visit the San Antonio Spurs.
Despite a valiant fourth-quarter comeback effort, the Celtics suffered a 122-118 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night. The defeat ended a five-game straight-up win streak, but the Celtics managed to extend their current against-the-spread win streak to six games after covering as 6.5-point underdogs on the NBA betting lines at the sportsbooks.
Boston remains in a tie with the Indiana Pacers for the final playoff spot in the NBA’s Eastern Conference but will need to buck recent trends against the Spurs, who are 6-0 SU and 4-1-1 ATS in their last six against the Celtics, according to the OddsShark NBA Database, including a humbling 111-89 beatdown of Boston in the only other meeting between the teams this season.
Following Friday’s contest, the Celtics will return home for a Sunday night matchup with the woeful Detroit Pistons before traveling to Brooklyn to face the Nets on Monday night.
Thumbnail photo via Bob DeChiara/USA TODAY Sports Images
