Bruins Look to pounce on Leafs

Boston Bruins @ Toronto Maple Leafs

Hockey Odds: Bruins -120

The Boston Bruins will look to continue its dominance of the Maple Leafs when they make the trip to Toronto this Tuesday. Boston has taken three of the first four meetings between these teams, including most recently a 3-2 shootout-win at home on March 4.  The Bruins went on to beat the Islanders the following Saturday, before falling to Pittsburgh the next night leading in to this Northeast Division match up. Perhaps more importantly, Boston center Marc Savard suffered a minor concussion on a dirty blindside hit to the head by the Penguins’ Matt Cooke. The injury is not as serious as originally thought, and Savard may play in this game. Toronto, ranked dead-last in the Eastern conference, split its weekend games with a win over Ottawa and a loss to Philadelphia entering Tuesday night’s game.

How The Bruins Can Win:

The Bruins have struggled offensively for most of the season, as indicated by their league-low 157 goals for. With Savard’s status for the game uncertain, not just if he will play but how well he can perform should he get clearance to, the expectation will be for his teammates to step up. David Krejci, Patrice Bergeron, and Michael Ryder must get on the score sheet in a game that the Bruins should win if they can get a couple of goals according to betting services. Tuukka Rask and Tim Thomas have served as one of the more formidable netminding tandem’s in the league, with Rask second only to Buffalo’s Ryan Miller in goals against average, and Boston will rely on more above-average play in goal should its offense stumble.

How The Maple Leafs Can Win:

Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke executed a fire-sale at the NHL trade deadline, leaving his team the youngest in the league. With a lack of firepower up front, and a lack of experience, Toronto will need a solid performance from its goaltender to win. Head coach Ron Wilson has said he will rotate his goalies game-by-game, and if that is true rookie Jonas Gustavsson will get the start. Gustavsson was outstanding in his last start, a 2-1 shootout win over Ottawa on Saturday, and will need to best at his best again if the last-place Maple Leafs are to steal a win. The top line of Phil Kessel, Tyler Bozak, and Nik Kulemin will be expected to score the Toronto goals.

Who Will Win:

Not in recent memory has an NHL roster been so void of NHL-caliber talent as the Maple Leafs is at this point. Buried at the bottom of the Eastern conference standings, Toronto will be hard-pressed to secure two points in any of its remaining games down the stretch. On paper, Boston outclasses the Leafs in every aspect of the game, and, barring a massive  sports betting meltdown, the Bruins should secure the two points in their pursuit of the eighth and final playoff spot.

Pick: Boston