The New Jersey Devils visit the TD Garden in Boston this afternoon where they take on the Bruins. The Bruins have dominated the Devils over the last half decade winning 15 of the last 18 meetings overall and 8 of the last 9 played in Boston.
Head to Head Trends
Devils are 3-15 in the last 18 meetings.
Devils are 1-8 in the last 9 meetings in Boston.
Boston Bruins (-180)
The Boston Bruins are 2nd in the Atlantic Division with 40 points just 3 points behind the 1st place Montreal Canadians and the Bruins have 3 games in hand on the Canadians so if the Bruins continue playing well they can easily move into 1st place over the next week or so.
The Bruins have been probably the hottest team in the league over the past month winning 10 of 14 games with 3 of those losses coming in overtime or the shootout so there has been just 1 game over the last 30 days that the Bruins failed to pick up at least a single point.
The Bruins have one of the best offenses in the league averaging 3.26 goals per game and their defense is getting stronger every game. It wasn’t all that long ago that the Bruins goals against was close to 3 goals per game but it’s been steadily dropping and is now down to just 2.61 goals per game.
Boston Bruins Trends
Bruins are 4-1 in their last 5 overall.
Bruins are 66-30 in their last 96 vs. a team with a losing record.
New Jersey Devils (+170)
The New Jersey Devils are 4th in the Metropolitan Division with 36 points 12 points back of the 1st place Washington Capitals. The Devils have been fairly solid this season but I’m afraid we’ve already seen the best of the Devils this season and I wouldn’t doubt if they don’t even make the playoffs come spring.
The Devils are averaging just 2.30 goals per game which is already near the bottom of the league and I think that will continue to drop as the season goes on. The Devils currently have a shooting percent of 9.11 which is pretty high so that will probably drop down close to 8.5% by the end of the season and that means the Devils will have averaged just 2.15 goals per game which will probably end up being the lowest scoring team in the league.
New Jersey Devils Trends
Devils are 1-5 in their last 6 games playing on 0 days rest.
Devils are 18-37 in their last 55 vs. a team with a winning record.
Conclusion
I like the Boston Bruins over the Devils in this one. I know the Bruins are a pretty big favorite but they have been the best team in the league over the last month. I also think the Devils will go into a major scoring slump soon and actually it looks like it has already started to happen as they have scored just 4 goals total over their last 4 games.
Free Pick: Boston Bruins -180
