There aren’t many believers in the Boston Bruins on Thursday night.
Boston opened as a -130 favorite at the Nashville Predators, and money in the market has driven the line even lower to B’s -110 at multiple sportsbooks. The “Under” also was steamed from 5.5 u-110 to 5.5 u-140, so respected money believes in Nashville and a low-scoring game.
It makes sense in theory. The Bruins are still without star winger Brad Marchand (three-game suspension) and they’ve dropped three of the last five including a loss against Detroit when they were heavily favored.
All that said, this is a decent time to buy B’s stock against a very beatable opponent. The Predators are far from an offensive juggernaut and they rank 22nd in goals and 28th in shots.
It’s not like Boston is facing Carolina, Florida, Tampa Bay or Toronto.
This is also the cheapest it’s been to bet on the B’s in about a month.
Last 10 Bruins games
BOS -207 at DET
BOS -269 vs. VAN
BOS -166 vs. NYR
BOS -261 at BUF
BOS -187 vs. CGY
BOS -140 at PHI
BOS -244 vs. MTL
BOS -138 at NJ
BOS -136 vs. EDM
BOS -199 vs. OTT
“We usually write good action on the Bruins most nights,” one Las Vegas sportsbook staffer told NESN. “But we’ll be rooting for them in this spot. There aren’t many takers at our counter given the recent struggles. Most of our handle and tickets are on the Predators.”
The Bruins have been extremely resilient this season — 6-1 when coming off a loss — and they’re still generating plenty of shots and pucks towards the net. Boston has outshot its opponent in nine of 10 games, and while the scoring chances certainly need to be better, the effort and compete level are definitely there.
I’ll back the undervalued B’s at a coin-flip price in a very winnable game.
Bruins -110
RECORD: (84-74, +16.3)
Predict the Game returns to NESN on Thursday night. Our first question goes live at 7:30 p.m. ET on “Bruins Face-off Live” and throughout the night, you’ll see predictive hockey questions to answer on our broadcast. The participant who scores the most points during the B’s-Predators game will win an autographed Patrice Bergeron sweater.
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