The Boston Bruins are favored at home on Wednesday night, as they host the Detroit Red Wings on NBCSN. The Red Wings are on the fringe of playoff contention in the Eastern Conference, while the Bruins are in third place in the Atlantic Division. Every game is a must-win for the Red Wings whose long streak of making the playoffs is just about over. Boston has taken 8 of the last 10 in this series against Detroit.
At 8 p.m. ET, tune into NBCSN for live television coverage of this NHL game on Wednesday, March 8, 2017, at TD Garden.
We'll have NHL odds at BookMaker.eu available for this and every game on the NHL Wednesday schedule.
Odds Analysis
This is the last game of a five-game road trip for the Red Wings and they will be playing with no rest, as they were in Toronto on Tuesday. Detroit was 13-19 in their first 32 road games, with 16 going over, 11 going under with five pushes.
The Red Wings are still playing hard but realistically they are not going to make the playoffs. Justin Abdelkader had five points in two games last week and Darren Helm finally got on the score sheet last week but time is running out for the Red Wings. “We want to keep playing, prove that we can be a playoff team,” Helm said. “We are further out of the picture than we want to be, but we have a lot of pride and want to finish on a good note. We are playing with pride, proving to ourselves we are a better team than we have been so far this year.”
The Bruins had Tuesday off after playing in Ottawa on Monday. The Bruins are only 17-14 at home with 15 going over the total, 13 going under with three pushes. Boston is scoring 2.7 goals per game and giving up 2.6 per contest.
Special Teams
The Red Wings have been simply awful on the power play this season, as they rank last in the league at 12.9%. They are averaging just 2.4 goals per game and that is just 26th in the league. Detroit is decent in penalty killing, as they are 13th in the league at 81.3%. They are giving up three goals per game, which is 26th in the league.
Boston is 13th on the power play at 19.8% and they are 15th in goals per game at 2.7 per contest. The Bruins are 2nd in the league in penalty killing at 86.1% and they are 10th in goals against at 10th in the NHL.
Goalie Report
The Red Wings have been a mess in goal ever since Jimmy Howard got hurt. Petr Mrazek was supposed to be a reliable starter but he is just 15-24 with a 2.97 goals against average, while Jared Coreau is 5-6 with a 3.27 goals against average.
The Bruins have a stalwart in Tuukka Rask who is 30-19 with a 2.26 goals against average, while Anton Khudobin is 4-6 with a 2.76 goals against average.
Free NHL Picks
These teams have met three times this season with Boston taking two of the three, with two games going over and one going under. The teams split two games in Detroit with Boston winning 1-0, while Detroit won 6-5. The Bruins won 4-3 in Boston in late January. The Bruins have won the last seven at home in this series with the last two going over.
The situation definitely favors Boston in this game, as the Red Wings are completing a road trip and playing with no rest. Detroit also is overmatched in this game, as the Bruins are simply the better overall team and they are playing at home. I will lay the price and take the Bruins to get the win on Wednesday night.
NHL Odds: Bruins 4, Red Wings 1
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