The Boston Bruins will be searching for just their second win in six dates on home ice when they host the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday night as -190 favorites on the NHL odds at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
The woes plaguing the Bruins prior to last week’s NHL All-Star break continued in their return to action Tuesday, with Boston dropping a 4-3 decision to the Winnipeg Jets to fall to 2-3-2 in their last seven outings ahead of Thursday night’s Flyers vs. Bruins betting matchup at TD Garden.
The Bruins’ recent shaky performance also has threatened to dump them out of the NHL playoff picture. Boston now sits in fourth place in the Atlantic Division standings with 60 points, with the Buffalo Sabres and Carolina Hurricanes lurking in the Eastern Conference wild-card race. The Bruins also have seen their Stanley Cup odds sag to +2200, well back of the +1200 odds at which they opened on those futures.
But despite the Bruins’ recent struggles, lengthy slides on home ice remain rare. Boston has not lost three straight at home during the regular season since December 2016. The Bruins remain one of the NHL’s top teams on home ice this season, and only trail the Tampa Bay Lightning in the East with 17 home victories to date.
However, the Bruins will face a Flyers team that arrives in Boston on Thursday playing its best hockey of the season. With Tuesday night’s 1-0 victory in New York over the Rangers as a -110 wager, Philadelphia now rides a season-high five-game win streak and will be looking to win again Thursday night while sporting underdog +155 odds.
The Flyers have played stingy defense during their current surge, surrendering just three total goals over their past three contests, including a 5-2 victory in Montreal over the Canadiens as +100 underdogs on Jan. 19, but historically have struggled in dates with the Bruins at TD Garden.
The Bruins have taken four straight from the Flyers on home ice, capped by a 3-0 victory as -160 chalk on Oct. 25. Boston also has posted victories in 12 of 14 home meetings since December 2010, according to the OddsShark NHL Database, but fell to defeat by a 4-3 score as -155 favorites when these two teams met in Philadelphia on January 16.
Following Thursday’s contest, the Bruins will look to end an epic 14-game losing streak against Washington as they travel for a Super Bowl Sunday clash with the Capitals, who return from the All-Star Break riding a seven-game slide. Boston then returns home Tuesday to battle the Metropolitan Division-leading New York Islanders.
