Bruins vs Hurricanes NHL Spread/Handicapping
Hurricanes Look to Continue Recent Dominance of Boston Monday Night
There aren`t too many teams that have gotten the better of the Boston Bruins the last few years but the Carolina Hurricanes happen to be one. After sweeping the Bruins in their four game series last year, the Hurricanes will be looking to stay sharp against one of the elite teams in the East.
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Boston Bruins (3-0-1) at Carolina Hurricanes (2-2-0)
When: 7:00 PM ET, Monday, January 28, 2013
Where: PNC Arena, Raleigh, North Carolina
Broadcast: NHLN-US, NHLN-CA, NESN, FS-CR
Bruins vs. Hurricanes Betting Lines from Bovada
Boston Bruins -1½ +235 -119 Ov 5½ +100
Carolina Hurricanes +1½ -280 +108 Un 5½ -110
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Monday serves as a big measuring stick for a Carolina team that made some major moves in the offseason with the aim of closing the gap on teams such as the Bruins in the Eastern Conference standings.
The Boston Bruins have come out of the gate looking like the team to beat in the Eastern Conference – points in all four games so far including three wins and an OT loss. The offense hasn’t exactly been lighting up the score sheet however – the team is averaging 2.75 goals per game and the top scorers are Brad Marchand and Milan Lucic with two goals and one assist apiece. Role players have chipped in however – Gregory Campbell, Danielle Paille and Shawn Thornton have combined for six points on Boston’s fourth line including two goals in Friday’s win against the Islanders.
Boston’s success this season can be traced directly back to Tuukka Rask. Rask is 3-0-1 with a 1.96 GAA and a .925 save percentage to open the season for the Bruins. Boston continues to play sensational defense and the offense is doing just enough up to this point. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
The Carolina Hurricanes started the season slowly getting outscored 9-2 in their first two games but they are coming off a home-and-home sweep versus Buffalo. Eric Staal has woken up and has three goals and an assist in his last two games including a hat trick Thursday, Jeff Skinner continues to look like the league’s newest superstar with four goals in his last three games and even Alexander Semin scored Saturday. Things look to be trending in the right direction for Carolina offensively. Now if they could get their goaltending in order!
Cam Ward has struggled early in the season and after being given the night off Friday, he should be back in the lineup Monday. He has a 4.71 goals against average so far this season and a miserable .845 save percentage. However Ward was 4-0-0 with a 1.25 goals-against average vs. Boston last season stopping 139 of 144 shots against The Bruins last year including all 47 in a 3-0 win on Feb. 2.
Betting Prediction:
A few trends to consider:
• BOS are 21-6 in their last 27 Mon. games.
• BOS are 7-2 in their last 9 road games.
• Over is 24-9-2 in BOS last 35 road games.
• CAR are 11-1 in their last 12 vs. Northeast.
• Over is 8-2-1 in CAR last 11 Mon. games.
• Over is 18-5-3 in the last 26 meetings in Carolina.
The Boston Bruins have a lot to prove on Monday night – that they are an elite NHL squad and that their poor showing against Carolina was simply a blip – not the rule. With Cam Ward playing poorly and Rask playing out of his head, this game could get ugly in a hurry. There’s no reason to expect a Boston letdown – Carolina’s four game win streak against the B’s comes to an end!
Pick: Boston Bruins -119
