The Boston Bruins will kick off their NHL regular-season schedule on Wednesday with a tough test as they visit the Washington Capitals as +115 underdogs on the NHL odds at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
Boston has enjoyed little success in recent dates with the reigning Stanley Cup champions, going winless in 12 straight meetings since the start of the 2014/15 NHL season including losses in six straight visits to Washington ahead of Wednesday night’s Bruins vs. Capitals betting matchup at Capital One Arena.
But despite the daunting task awaiting them in their season opener, the Bruins kick off their campaign with high expectations after finishing fourth overall in the NHL standings with 50 wins and 112 points last season.
Boston is once again expected to contend for top spot in the Atlantic Division standings, and closely trails the Toronto Maple Leafs and Tampa Bay Lightning as a +260 wager to earn its first divisional crown since 2014. The club also is set at -500 to return to the NHL playoffs for a third straight year, and sits just slightly off the pace on the Stanley Cup odds, joining the Capitals, Nashville Predators, and Vegas Golden Knights at +1100 on those futures.
The Bruins can do themselves a big favor by capitalizing on a favorable schedule over the first month of the season. Following Wednesday’s clash with the Capitals, 10 of the club’s remaining 11 October matchups come against opponents that failed to reach the playoffs last season.
Six of those contests are on the road, including a Thursday date with the Buffalo Sabres, and an upcoming four-game swing across Canada. However, the Bruins proved to be one of the NHL’s top road squads last year, trailing only Nashville with 12 losses away from home ice.
While the Bruins are expected to once again be among the NHL’s top teams, and sit as a -115 wager to rack up OVER 102.5 points on the NHL team props for the season, the club is sparsely represented on the odds to claim individual player awards.
Winner of 34 or more games in four of the past five seasons, Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask sits well behind the favorites on the Vezina Trophy odds, opening the campaign as a middling +2000 bet to claim top goalie honors for the second time in his career.
In addition, Brad Marchand is pegged as the top Bruins player on the odds to win the Hart Trophy as the player most valuable to his team, trailing at +2800, well ahead of David Pastrnak, who lags at a distant +10000.
