Riding a three-game win streak, the Boston Bruins will continue a trek through the Western Conference when they face the Minnesota Wild on Thursday night at the Xcel Energy Center.
Boston is coming off a 2-0 win over the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday as -124 betting favorites at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com, Boston’s second victory in a row out west after it had topped the Arizona Coyotes 2-1 on Saturday night.
That has Boston at 7-3 away from TD Garden this season, allowing three or more goals per game on just three occasions during that stretch and fueling its rise up the Atlantic Division standings, where it trails only the first-place Montreal Canadiens with a 10-6-0 record.
The Bruins’ recent success has erased a slow start in which they lost three of their first six games. The club has caught fire since a trio of embarrassing losses to Montreal, Minnesota and the New York Rangers, winning seven of nine, including three shutout victories.
Goaltender Tuukka Rask has continued his stellar play, allowing just three total goals over his past four starts, and has made the difference for a Bruins squad that is 5-1 in games settled by a single goal this season.
Minnesota returns home following a four-game road trip, pegged as -175 favorites at the sportsbooks for Tuesday night’s matchup with the Calgary Flames. The Wild took two of four during their recent junket, wrapping up with a 2-1 win in Ottawa on Sunday as +118 underdogs.
Minnesota opened strong with six wins in its first nine contests, including three consecutive shutouts in late October. One of those shutout wins came in Boston, a 5-0 victory on Oct. 25 as -123 favorites that ended Minnesota’s three-game losing streak against the Bruins.
However, the Wild have struggled since, losing three of five while scoring just nine total goals, and have now seen the total finish UNDER in eight of 11 contests according to the OddsShark NHL Database.
Following Thursday night’s tilt in Minnesota, the Bruins will return home to face the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday. The Jets have endured an uneven start to the season, but their 8-7-2 record leaves them in second place in the Central Division going into their matchup with the first-place Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday night.
Winnipeg has won three of four, including two straight at home, but is winless in two this season as home underdogs on the NHL betting lines. The Jets also have lost two straight games to the Bruins, but posted a 6-2 win in their last visit to Boston in October of last year.
Thumbnail photo via Ron Chenoy/USA TODAY Sports Images
