The Boston Bruins will be aiming to extend their point streak to 18 games Thursday night when they take on the Ottawa Senators as -145 road favorites on the NHL odds at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
Boston tallied a narrow 3-2 victory over the New Jersey Devils to pay out as a lofty -235 home bet on Tuesday night, and they now take a 13-0-4 record in its past 17 outings into Thursday night’s Bruins vs. Senators betting matchup at Canadian Tire Centre.
Thursday’s contest closes out a strong first half for the Bruins. After falling to Ottawa in the first round last spring in their first postseason appearance after missing out the previous two seasons, Boston opened the current campaign at a lengthy +3500 on the Stanley Cup odds. But with the club sitting just five points back of division-leading Tampa Bay, the Bruins have rocketed to +800 on those NHL futures, trailing only the Lightning and the surprising Vegas Golden Knights.
Goaltender Tuukka Rask continued his solid play in Tuesday’s victory over the Devils, turning aside 37 shots to improve to 15-0-2 in his past 17 starts. With both Rask and backup Anton Khudobin playing some of the best hockey of their careers, Boston has limited opponents to two or fewer goals on 12 occasions during its current point streak.
The club’s offense has tapered off in recent outings, however, averaging 3.2 goals per game over its past five outings, spawning a 4-1 run for the UNDER in totals betting, according to the OddsShark NHL Database. And Boston will be missing forward Brad Marchand on Thursday night and beyond after he was handed a five-game suspension by the league for elbowing the Devils’ Marcus Johansson on Tuesday night.
The Bruins travel to the Canadian capital looking for a third win in three meetings with Ottawa this season. Boston pounded the Senators 5-1 as -191 home chalk on December 27, and followed up with a 5-0 victory in Ottawa three days later as a -167 favorite. Those victories mark a dramatic turnaround for the Bruins, who had picked up the win in just four of their previous 18 games against Ottawa.
The Senators return home as +120 underdogs after getting outclassed in a 3-0 loss in St. Louis on Tuesday to extend their current losing streak to four games.
Overall, it has been a dismal season for Ottawa, which originally held high hopes after a Cinderella run to the Eastern Conference final last spring. The Senators are one of just two Eastern Conference squads still sporting single-digit win totals on home ice, and have been outgunned by a 16-6 margin in three straight losses at Canadian Tire Centre.
Following this weekend’s All-Star Break, the Bruins will look to halt an eight-game losing streak against Anaheim when they open a three-game homestand with a visit from the Ducks on Tuesday night.
