Boston Bruins vs. Ottawa Senators: Odds, Prediction
The second of four meetings between the teams, with Boston returning to Ottawa on Jan. 25 and hosting the Senators on the final day of the regular season April 7.
Bruins vs Senators Betting Analysis
On Wednesday, Boston was a -200 favourite and routed Ottawa 5-1 to end a six-game regular-season home losing streak in the series. Riley Nash was the No. 1 star with two goals and an assist. Tuukka Rask, named the NHL’s. No. 1 star for last week, continued his hot streak with 25 saves. That was the first meeting between the two since last year’s playoffs.
Ottawa was 1-2 at home in the 2017 Eastern Conference quarterfinals vs. Boston (dropping Games 1 & 5) but 3-0 on the road – every game in the series was decided by one goal with four in overtime. In the regular season, the Senators swept two games. They won 3-1 on Nov. 24, 2016, behind third-period goals from Chris Wideman and Kyle Turris (now with Nashville). On March 6, the Senators beat the Bruins 4-2. Mike Hoffman scored the power-play winner early in the third period.
Boston is just 2-6 in its past eight regular-season trips to Ottawa.
Boston Bruins
Boston got off to a slow start this season largely due to injuries but has really turned it on since mid-November, losing just five times to climb into third in the Atlantic Division and right on the heels of the second-place Maple Leafs. However, Boston’s five-game losing streak was snapped Thursday in the second of a back-to-back in Washington, 4-3 in a shootout. It should be noted that Rask got the night off. Anton Khudobin was in net and allowed the tying goal at 11:22 of the third and the only goal of the shootout by Alex Ovechkin.
David Backes – one of those guys who missed a large chunk of the early season injured — had two goals for Boston. He and linemates Danton Heinen and Nash are all rolling right now. Rask surely will be back in there Saturday. On the road this year, he’s 2-4-1 with a 2.62 GAA and .911 save percentage.
Ottawa Senators
The Senators are at a disadvantage here as they play the second of a back-to-back after hosting Columbus on Friday night with Mike Condon in net – thus, it should be Craig Anderson on Saturday. Ottawa has had mixed success in a second game in 24 hours this season. On Oct. 14, the Sens had one of their top outings of the season in a 6-1 victory at Edmonton following a 6-0 win in Calgary the night before. That likely was the team’s best two-game stretch of the year.
On Oct. 27, the Senators lost at New Jersey 5-4 in a shootout following a 5-4 regulation home victory vs. Philadelphia the night before. On Nov. 11, Ottawa beat visiting Colorado after winning by that same score in overtime the night before in Denver. The Sens lost both ends of a back-to-back on Nov. 18-19, 3-2 in OT vs. Arizona and 3-0 at the Rangers. Ditto on Nov. 24-25, a 5-2 loss in Columbus and 2-1 home defeat to the Islanders. Another double loss on Dec. 6-7, 3-0 at Anaheim and 4-3 in OT at Los Angeles. The last back-to-back was a 3-2 loss in Buffalo on Dec. 12 and 3-2 home win vs. the Rangers the next evening.
