Buffalo Sabres at Boston Bruins Betting Odds
Opening Moneyline: Buffalo +145 / Boston -165 O/U 5 goals
Time: 7 PM EST Thursday April 8, 2010
Tonight in a very important game for the home squad the Boston Bruins host the Buffalo Sabres. The Bruins currently hold the 8th and last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, but they only trail 7th place Philadelphia by 1 points and 6th place Montreal by 2 points and only lead the 9th place New York Rangers by 1 point.
Buffalo will be in the post-season, but if they finish the season strong they may snag the 2nd seed in the East. The Sabres are in 3rd place 1 point behind 2nd place New Jersey and 1 point ahead of 4th place Pittsburgh.
This season the Bruins are 16-17-6 at home and the Sabres are 19-15-4 at home.
The Bruins are coming off a loss and are 5-4-1 in their last 10 games and the Sabres are coming off a win and are a solid 7-3 in their last 10 games.
In their last games the Sabres beat the New York Rangers 5-2 on Tuesday night and the Bruins lost to the Washington Capitals 3-2.
There is no place like home does not apply to the Bruins, as they have a better road record than they do at home.
This season each of these teams have got 6 points in the 5 games between the 2 this season.
Boston does not have a good offense to say the least, as they rank dead last in the NHL in scoring. Luckily their defense is one of the best in the league only allowing 2.35 goals per game. The Bruins will be facing a solid Buffalo offense that ranks 9th in the league in scoring.
The Bruins offense, as stated before, is not a dynamic one and they will likely be facing Buffalo G Ryan Miller (40 wins 2.23 GAA save percentage 92.8%). Miller has been solid since the Olympic break and ranks 3rd in the league in GAA. The Sabres would like to rest Miller for the playoffs, but backup G Patrick Lalime may not be available for this game due to illness.
Boston will need to have a solid game on D, especially G Tuukka Rask (20 wins 1.99 GAA save percentage 93%), who leads the NHL in GAA. Luckily the Boston defense will not be facing Buffalo's leading scorer, as Tim Connolly is out for the rest of the regular season with a back injury.
Betting Trends
Boston is 3-14 in their last 17 home games, 1-4 in their last 5 games against teams with a winning record, and has an Under record of 8-1-4 in their last 13 games against teams with a winning record.
Buffalo is 8-3 in their last 11 games, 5-12 in their last 17 road games, and has an Over record of 5-1-1 in their last 7 games.
Our Selection : Take Buffalo +145.
Future Betting Odds
NHL Handicapping
Tampa Bay Lightning at Boston Bruins 5-17
The Boston Bruins need to play much better in game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals. The Bruins lost the opener 5-2 at home and can ill-afford to fall behind 2-0 to Lightning. Tampa Bay are on quite a roll, winning their last eight in a row in the playoffs. The oddsmaker at Bodog have the Bruins as a -145 favorite to even-up the series.