Two teams currently on winning streaks, the Boston Bruins and the Colorado Avalanche face off at the Pepsi Center. The opening face-off is at 9 p.m. ET on Thursday, October 10, and fans at home can catch this East-West matchup live on New England Sports Network.
Boston Bruins vs. Colorado Avalanche Odds
Colorado heads into the matchup as the favorite with a moneyline of -120. The line for Boston is standing at +100 and the Over/Under (O/U) has been set at an even 6 goals. If bettors want to wager on this game’s total, they’ll be looking at odds of -105 money on the over and -115 on the under.
Boston is 3-0 straight up (SU) and has earned moneyline bettors 3.1 units this season. That winning percentage, ranked first in the NHL so far this season, is a solid improvement over the 49-33 record from last year’s regular season campaign. As the road team in 2019-20, the Bruins are 3-0 SU.
Boston has found the net on 22.2 percent of its power play opportunities so far. That’s a fairly big drop-off from last season, when it was ranked second in the league by converting on 27.6 percent of its extra-man advantages. Its penalty kill has fallen off noticeably, as the team has gone from successfully defending 81.8 percent of all opponent power plays (ranked seventh overall last year) to 75.0 percent this year.
For the team as a whole, Boston has been called for penalties 3.0 times per game this season, a number that has improved from last year’s 3.7 penalties per game. After serving an average of 9.0 penalty minutes per game a season ago the team’s had to kill penalties for just 6.0 minutes per matchup this year.
Boasting a .937 save percentage and 29.5 saves per game, Tuukka Rask (2-0) has been the best option in goal for Boston this season. If head coach Bruce Cassidy decides to rest him, however, the team could roll with Jaroslav Halak (1-0 record, .1,000 save percentage, 0.00 goals against average).
The visiting Bruins will be led by Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak. Marchand has four points on three goals and one assist this season; Pastrnak has one goal and two assists to his credit through the early phase of the regular season.
Colorado is 2-0 straight up (SU) and has earned 2.0 units for moneyline bettors this year. Through two regular season contests, one of its games has gone over the total, while zero have gone under and one has pushed. So far this year, the team is 2-0 SU at home.
Colorado has killed off a remarkable 62.5 percent of all penalties, a few points lower than the 79.3 percent the team posted a year ago (when it was ranked 22nd in the NHL). It’s scored on 25.0 percent of its power plays this year after converting on 21.0 percent (ranked 10th in league) last season.
Colorado players have been whistled for penalties 5.0 times per game this season. Last year, that number was at 4.0, the third-highest mark in the NHL. After serving an average of 9.4 penalty minutes per game a year ago, the team has been forced to kill penalties for 11.5 minutes per outing this season.
The undefeated Philipp Grubauer has stopped 28.0 shots per game as the primary option in goal for Colorado. Grubauer has two wins and zero losses to his credit and has maintained a 2.50 goals against average and a .918 save percentage this year.
Boston Bruins vs. Colorado Avalanche Free Picks
NHL Tip: SU Winner – Avalanche, O/U – Over
Betting Notes
- Boston has managed 26.7 shot attempts per game over its last five road games while Colorado is averaging 32.0 shots per game over its last five home outings.
- Boston was 2-3 in games that ended in a shootout last year. Colorado was 2-2 in shootouts.
- Colorado’s skaters managed 6.9 takeaways per game and allowed 7.6 giveaways per contest.
- Boston is scoring 2.3 goals per game over their three-game winning streak.
- Bruins skaters averaged 8.5 takeaways per game while giving the puck away 9.7 times per game in 2018-19
