Boston Bruins at Minnesota Wild (+115, 5)
The Bruins welcomed back star forward Marc Savard in their 4-2 win over the St. Louis Blues Monday. Savard, who missed 15 games with a broken foot, registered no shots on goal and picked up a high sticking penalty in 16:30 minutes of playing time.
“Not bad,” said Savard, grading his performance . “I felt a little rusty at times. I had some chances. I felt pretty good. I think it’s coming. I had fun and we won. It’s a good thing.”
Before suffering the injury, Savard had seven points in eight games, scoring four goals and posting a plus/minus of +1. He’s slowly making his way back and brought some life to the second-unit power play.
“I think other guys feed off it,” Savard told the Boston Herald. “The second unit obviously is the one that scored the two goals. Once we go out and have some chances and calm it down, they go out and keep it going. It was good to see them capitalize, because as we’ve said, down the stretch (power plays are) going to be the difference.”
Boston has won three straight heading into Wednesday and is hoping to end its slump against the Wild. The Bruins have won just one of their last nine meetings with Minnesota going back to 2000.
Pick: Boston
Philadelphia Flyers at New York Islanders (+121, 5.5)
When it rains it pours in Philadelphia.
The Flyers, already dealing with the loss of star Simon Gagne, found out this week that they will not have the services of forwards Darroll Powe and Blair Betts for at least two weeks. Arron Asham is also out with a injury, leaving Philly without four of their top 12 forwards and 33.3 percent of its scoring.
"We have to march ahead, and some of the others have to step up," general manager Paul Holmgren told the Philadelphia Inquirer.
The Flyers have lost three straight games heading into Wednesday’s contest with New York. They desperately need stars like Jeff Carter and Mike Richards to step up. Both of those players have combined for just eight goals in the past 10 games.
Pick: New York