The Boston Bruins will try to push aside a shaky December when they travel to Notre Dame University on Tuesday for an NHL Winter Classic outdoor clash with the Chicago Blackhawks.
The Bruins closed out December on a winning note, claiming a 3-2 overtime victory in Buffalo on Saturday as a -115 bet on the NHL odds at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com. With the victory Boston brought a halt to a two-game losing streak and evened its record at 7-7-0 in its last 14 contests ahead of Tuesday afternoon’s matchup at Notre Dame Stadium.
Tuesday’s date with Chicago marks the Bruins’ first appearance in an outdoor game in three years. Boston was dominated in a 5-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens at Gillette Stadium on New Year’s Day 2016, but escaped with a 2-1 overtime victory over the Philadelphia Flyers in its Winter Classic debut at Fenway Park back in 2010.
Boston has failed to tally consecutive wins on the road while falling to defeat in nine of its past 14 games away from home, and has picked up two points in just eight of 25 regular-season road dates since late last March.
The Blackhawks look to continue their strongest stretch of play this season as they make their fifth outdoor appearance in six seasons. Chicago is coming off a 3-2 victory in Colorado as a +180 underdog on the odds on Saturday, lifting the club to 5-1-0 in its past six contests.
Chicago’s recent spurt marks a dramatic turn in fortune for the club after compiling a dismal 4-17-4 record in its previous 25 outings. The Blackhawks’ surge briefly has lifted them out of the basement in the Central Division standings, but they remain a distant +12500 longshot to win the division on the NHL betting futures.
The Blackhawks also have produced shaky results in recent outdoor game appearances. The team has been outscored by a wide 13-4 margin in three straight losses in open-air contests, and is 1-4-0 overall in five previous outdoor appearances. Their lone victory came in a March 2014 Stadium Series clash with the Pittsburgh Penguins at Soldier Field, which they won 5-1.
Eastern Conference opponents have also enjoyed the upper hand against the Blackhawks, picking up the win in four of the last 13 meetings. However, the Bruins have dropped three of seven regular-season road dates to Chicago since November 2008 according to the OddsShark NHL Database.
