The first Original Six tussle of the season happens tonight when the Boston Bruins pay Hockeytown a visit to meet with the Detroit Red Wings in a rematch of the first round of last season’s Playoffs. Can the Bruins net their second win in a row to show why some experts are picking them to win the Cup next June? Or will the Red Wings put the first blemish on Boston’s record?
[sc:NHLArticles ]Boston Bruins vs. Detroit Red Wings Betting Preview
Where: Joe Louis Arena, Detroit
When: Thursday, October 9, 7:30 PM ET
Line: Boston Bruins at Detroit Red Wings – view all NHL lines
Betting on the Boston Bruins
[sc:NHL240 ]True to their brand of hockey predicated on strong defense, the Bruins were able to weather the attack of the Philadelphia Flyers last night to carve out a 2-1 victory in their season opener. Dating back to last season’s Playoffs, the total has gone under in four of Boston’s last five games.
Chris Kelly played the hero role in the win by scoring the tiebreaker with 1:51 left in the last period. On offense, the Bruins repeatedly drilled through the porous defense of Philadelphia, which gave up 33 shots to Boston. Detroit doesn’t have an imposing blue line either, so expect the Bruins to load up on shots just like they did last night.
Conversely, the Bruins made life extremely hard for Claude Giroux and crew, as the blue line allowed the Flyers to take just 20 shots on Tukka Rask, who then turned away all but one of those attempts for a .950 SV%. All told, the Bruins’ defense appears to be as sharp as it was last season when they allowed just 2.08 GA/G.
Another area where the Bruins excelled last night as if it’s 2013-2014 season all over again was in the penalty kill. Boston’s special team continued to thwart opposing power plays just like last season, when it had an 83.6 PK%. Boston stuffed all three of the Flyers’ attempts on the man advantage.
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Betting on Detroit Red Wings
Daniel Alfredsson and Pavel Datsyuk won’t be skating tonight for different reasons, but the Red Wings will still be playing with a burning desire to beat Boston, the team that ousted them in the first round of last season’s Playoffs. The Red Wings have won four of their last six home games against the Boston.
Without Alfredsson (back) and Datsyuk (shoulder), Detroit is going to miss their leadership and most importantly, their scoring.
These developments put the scoring burden squarely on the shoulders of captain Henrik Zetterberg, Gustav Nyquist, and Johan Franzen to provide the spark for the team’s offense, which sputtered mightily during the Playoffs series against Boston, when they scored just six goals – three came off Datsyuk’s stick – overall. Zetterberg (16 goals, 32 assists last season) is poised to have a great campaign after being limited last season to just 45 games because of injuries.
The youth movement in Mike Babcock’s team should also bring optimism to the Red Wings. Gustav Nyquist and Tomas Tatar headline this group of up-and-comers, who will have bigger roles to fill starting tonight. That’s especially true for Nyquist, who plays in the same center position as Datsyuk and Alfredsson. Nyquist exploded out of nowhere last season, scoring a team-leading 28 goals in just 57 games after being called up from the minors.
Opening night starter Jimmy Howard, meanwhile, is set to have his litmus test right out of the gate with the Bruins on deck later. Howard played three games in the first round loss to Boston, allowing six goals in three games for a 2.02 GAA. Howard, though, shutout Boston in Game 1 , stopping all 25 shots by the Boston.
Writer’s Prediction
Boston wins, 2-0.
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