Hurricanes plus $1.75 at Bruins
Yes, I know. The Bruins are playing well and now rest atop of the Atlantic Division with Tampa Bay. So why fade them? Three words: Price, spot and situation.
Let’s begin with this fact: The Bruins are far better when playing on the road. They actually have a losing home record. Carolina is misleading, too. The Hurricanes dealt away key players at the trade deadline, but they still have a decent blend of veterans and youth. They are 2-0-1 since then and remain in playoff contention four points out of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
This also is a quick revenge spot for the Hurricanes. They lost to the Bruins, 4-1, at home on Feb. 26.
Now if the Bruins bring their “A” game then Carolina is in big trouble. But I don’t see this happening. This is a flat spot for the Bruins. Boston just went through a brutal stretch of playing the Blackhawks, Capitals, Panthers and Lightning. The last three games all went into overtime. Boston beat Chicago, lost to Washington, defeated Florida and in a huge game knocked off Tampa Bay this past Tuesday. Their last two games were in Florida.
So there’s a fatigue factor working against Boston this being the Bruins’ third game in four days and fourth in six days. Boston has a bigger game on deck hosting the Islanders on Saturday.
There are a couple of other red flags that need to be raised about the Bruins. Boston allowed Florida and Tampa Bay to unleash a combined 93 shots on net during its last two games. The Bruins also could be down two defensemen. Kevan Miller has been out and is questionable here with an upper body injury and John-Michael Liles may draw a league suspension for this game because of his hit on Nikita Kucherov during Tuesday’s matchup against the Lightning.
