After 57 long years, Original Six teams Boston Bruins and Detroit Red Wings are going to meet in the playoffs.
The Bruins fell short of the NHL’s top prize last season when they were beaten by the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2013 Stanley Cup finals. They begin their quest to win their second title in three years with a first round match-up against the Red Wings, who extended their streak of playoff appearance to 23-straight seasons.
[sc:MultiSportArticles ]Boston Bruins vs. Detroit Red Wings Game 1 Betting Preview
Series Schedule & Results
Game 1 – April 18, 7:30PM ET, Boston – Detroit Red Wings (+170) at Boston Bruins (-200); total 5.0 – view these lines
Game 2 – April 20, 3:00 PM ET, Boston
Game 3 – April 22, 7:30 PM ET, Detroit
Game 4 – April 24, 8:00 PM ET, Detroit
Game 5 (if necessary) – April 26, 3:00 PM ET, Boston
Game 6 (if necessary) – April 24, TBD, Detroit
Game 7 (if necessary) – April 30, TBD, Boston
Betting on the Boston Bruins
The Boston Bruins bring a dreaded offense and an even more terrifying defense to the playoffs, and as a result you can bet on the Bruins at +350 to win it all this year. Though Boston lost quite a few games before concluding its regular season schedule – the Bruins are 2-5 in their last seven as they rested their stars– they are nonetheless a tough draw for the Detroit Red Wings.
On offense, the Bruins boast of a 3.1 goals per game average. The top line of David Krejci, Milan Lucic, and Jarome Iginla punished opponents during the regular season for 189 points, including 73 goals. Following this line, Claude Julien rolls out the trio of Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, and Reilly Smith, who were even better than the first line in terms of scoring, with 75 goals.
Not many teams are capable of matching the amount of firepower that Boston has. But even if they do, they’ll quickly be introduced to Tuukka Rask, who has the ability to stymie any kind of offensive attacks.
With Rask in front of the net, the Bruins are letting in just 2.1 goals per game. Opponents can’t let Boston take the lead because it’s hard to catch-up with the Bruins, especially with an efficient netminder like Rask, who has the best save percentage (.930) among goalies who have played at least 40 games.
The Bruins remain without one of their top d-men, as German national Dennis Seidenberg has had to miss the second half of the regular season and will miss the forseeable playoffs with a significant knee injury.
Betting on the Detroit Red Wings
[sc:NHL240 ]The Detroit Red Wings may be banged up but they remain a dangerous opponent for any team in the playoffs, President Trophy-winning club or not. In fact, the Red Wings are the only team to have beaten the Boston Bruins thrice in regulation during the regular season.
The primary challenge for the Red Wings will be scoring against the seemingly impenetrable defense of Boston. Without Henrik Zetterberg (back), coach Mike Babcock will need more from his assembly of grizzled veterans and crop of youngsters.
Pavel Datsyuk and ageless wonder Daniel Alfredsson provide the leadership for their younger teammates. Datsyuk plays on the top line with Gustav Nyquist and Justin Abdelkader and has provided a boost since returning from a knee injury in early April. Nyquist leads the team with 28 goals. He netted 14 goals in 24 games following the Olympic break. Alfredsson, meanwhile, is the team’s leader in points with 49.
If the mostly-young Red Wings can outskate the Zdeno Chara-led crew of Bruins’ blue liners, they can make this series a competitive one. In the last 10 games, Detroit experienced an uptick in its scoring, netting an average of 3.1 a game.
For all the talk about Tuukka Rask’s brilliance, the Red Wings nevertheless repeatedly found ways to beat Boston when the Finnish netminder starts. Detroit is 4-1 in the last five games when Rask is in goal for the Bruins.
The Red Wings are 7-1 in their last eight meetings with Boston.
Writer’s Prediction
For the Red Wings to oust Boston, they will need the Bruins to implode or have some of its key players to suffer serious injuries. That said, it’s clear that this series is definitely for Boston to win or lose. Boston will set the tone in Game 1 with a 4-1 victory. They will end up winning the series, too, 4-2. Who are you going to bet on?
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