Free NHL Hockey Prediction: Lightning vs Bruins NHL Odds
Looking for Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Boston Bruins free hockey plays & NHL Odds? NHL betting sees the Lightning taking on the Bruins on Thursday March 23rd at TD Garden in Boston, MA. Cappers Picks provides complimentary expert handicapping picks on all NHL Hockey matchups all season long so stay tuned for more FREE daily NHL hockey predictions.
(34-28-9) Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Boston Bruins (38-28-6)
Date: Thursday March 23rd
Time: 4:00 PM
Venue: TD Garden in Boston, MA
NHL Hockey Moneyline Odds: Bruins -210
NHL Hockey Puck Line Odds:
NHL Betting Total: 5.5
Live NHL Odds
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Tampa Bay still has a shot at the playoffs, but unlikely as they currently sit four points behind Toronto for the final wildcard slot in the East. They will need to string together a number of wins, and one against the Bruins here would be huge.
The Bruins sit in 3rd in the Atlantic Division, but just one point ahead of Toronto and five ahead of the Lightning.
Tampa Bay Lightning
Tampa has earned points in seven of their last ten games and are making a run for the final wildcard. Should they gain a regulation victory in this crucial four-point divisional game, it would go a long way to their playoff push.
Nikita Kucherov has developed into one of the games’ best players, leading the scoring charge for Tampa with 33 goals and 71 points, which ranks him top-10 in the league in each category.
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His deal, that is signed for an additional two seasons at $4.7-million looks like an absolute steal for the Lightning.
The next best point-getter on the squad is Victor Hedman, the 26-year old star defenseman who has 59 points on the year. His 59 points places his third amongst defenseman, and 10 points ahead of the 4th place Duncan Keith.
The goaltending situation heading into the playoff stretch was cleared with the trade of Ben Bishop, officially handing the starting reigns over to Andrei Vasilevskiy. The young Russian has notched a .916 SV% and a 2.64 GAA this season.
Boston Bruins
Brad Marchand’s stock has soared to all-time highs, as he currently challenges Team Canada linemate, Sidney Crosby, in the NHL scoring race. Marchand has 37 goals, only trailing Sid’s 40 for the highest mark.
The pest-David Pastrnak is having one of the quietest point-per-game pace season in recent memory. At the time of writing, he has 31 goals and 63 points in 65 games played. Pastrnak is quickly looking like the steal of the 2014 Draft class.
The importance and quality of all-round play of Patrice Bergeron cannot be understated.
The final linemate for Crosby and Marchand on Team Canada plays arguably the best two-way game in the NHL, and is annually in contention for the Selke award.
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Bergeron has added 48 points, a plus-12 rating, 263 SOGs and an ATOI of 19:17 this season.
Tuukka Rask has been the incumbent in net for the Bruins since assuming the stating reigns from Tim Thomas in 2013. Rask owns a 2.32 GAA and a .912 SV% with 33 wins on the year.
NHL Betting Trends:
- The Lightning rank 18th in goals per game at 2.7 on average
- Tampa Bay is 6-3-1 in their past 10 games
- Tampa Bay is 15-15-6 on the road this year
- Boston is 6-4-0 in their last 10 games
- Boston has the 2nd best penalty kill in the NHL this season at 85.2%
- Boston is 19-14-0 at home
Free Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Boston Bruins NHL Hockey Prediction:
This is going to be a fun game to watch, as the intensity should be high in the ever important four-point game that could decide Tampa Bay’s playoff fate. Should Boston drop the game, they will feel the Leafs and Lightning breathing down their necks.
I expect the two teams, both of whom have six wins in their past 10 games, to play a tightly-checked, playoff style game.
4* Free NHL Betting Pick: Under 5.5.
Because of this, and what should equate to above average goaltending play, I like the under.
NHL Free Score Prediction: Tampa Bay 3 – Boston 2
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