NHL Odds: Bruins Are Favorites Vs. Lightning In Tuesday’s Crucial Game
The Boston Bruins will be looking to punch their ticket to the Stanley Cup playoffs Tuesday night when they host the Tampa Bay Lightning as -180 betting favorites at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
Boston enters Tuesday night?s Lightning vs. Bruins betting matchup at TD Garden with a four-point lead over Tampa Bay in the race for an Eastern Conference postseason berth. With 92 points, the Bruins sit alongside the Ottawa Senators in the Atlantic Division standings, one point behind second-place Toronto, with both the Senators and Maple Leafs holding a game in hand.
The Bruins enter the final week of the NHL regular season as winners of five straight, including a 3-2 victory in Chicago as +120 underdogs Sunday, surrendering just six total goals during the streak. They’ll host the Senators on Thursday night.
The Lightning, meanwhile, open a three-game road trip in Boston, followed by a must-win matchup in Toronto on Thursday and a Friday-night date against the Canadiens in Montreal.
Tampa Bay has remained in the playoff hunt on the strength of a 5-0-1 run, which began March 23 with a 6-3 win in Boston as a +175 underdog. The Lightning are an impressive 10-3-2 over their past 15 games, including a 5-1-0 mark on the road, and have now won three of their last four at TD Garden, outscoring the Bruins by a 17-11 margin during that stretch.
After securely occupying second place in the Atlantic Division for most of the season, the Senators enter their matchup with the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday night at Canadian Tire Centre desperate to break out of a five-game slide that threatens to derail their playoff hopes.
Ottawa dropped a 5-4 shootout decision Monday in Detroit to fall to 2-5-3 over its past 10 games, including just one win in seven road outings. However, the Bruins can’t take the slumping Senators for granted. Ottawa has dominated the Bruins in recent seasons, winning five straight and nine of their past 11 meetings, including a 3-2 win March 21 in Boston as a +162 underdog.
The Bruins then will close out their regular-season schedule Saturday afternoon at home against the league-leading Washington Capitals. With four games remaining, the Capitals will be looking to lock down first place overall in the Eastern Conference this week and have beaten the Bruins in eight straight meetings according to the OddsShark NHL Database.
Thumbnail photo via Greg M. Cooper/USA TODAY Sports Images
