Overview
The Boston Bruins visit the PNC Arena in Carolina tonight where they take on the Hurricanes. The Bruins have played the Hurricanes well of late winning 7 of the last 9 meetings although they have won just 3 of the last 7 played in Carolina.
Head to Head Trends
Bruins are 7-2 in the last 9 meetings.
Over is 20-7-4 in the last 31 meetings in Carolina.
Carolina Hurricanes (+120)
The Carolina Hurricanes are 6th in the Metropolitan Division with 66 points 26 points out of 1st place but they are just 2 points back of the Pittsburgh Penguins for the final playoff spot in the East so they still got a pretty good shot at making the playoffs this season if they continue playing well.
After a fairly slow start to the season the Hurricanes have played much better of late winning 12 of their last 21 games including 3 overtime losses so at least they picked up points is those games as well. I think the main reason for the Hurricanes turn around has been their defense who have a league best 26.6 shots against per game.
Carolina Hurricanes Trends
Hurricanes are 16-36 in their last 52 vs. a team with a winning record.
Hurricanes are 8-17 in their last 25 in the third game of a 3-in-4 situation.
Boston Bruins (-130)
The Boston Bruins are 3rd in the Atlantic Division with 72 points 5 points back of the 1st place Florida Panthers. I can actually see the Bruins finishing in 1st place at the end of the season. They have the 3rd best offense in the league and if Tukka Rask would come around and play the way he has over the last few seasons I think they could put a nice little hot streak together.
Like I mentioned above the Bruins have the 3rd best offense in the league averaging 3.05 goals per game. The Bruins biggest weak spot this season has been their defense/goaltending allowing 2.77 goals per game although for some strange reason they play very good on the road allowing just 2.23 goals per game.
Boston Bruins Trends
Bruins are 8-2 in their last 10 road games.
Bruins are 79-38 in their last 117 vs. a team with a losing record.
Conclusion
I like the Boston Bruins over the Hurricanes in this one. Even though the Hurricanes have been playing much better of late they are still not the same type caliber team as the Bruins plus the Bruins are one of the best road teams in the league.
Free Pick: Boston Bruins -130
