The NHL betting board for Wednesday night is light, with just two games on tap, including an East Division battle between the first-place Boston Bruins and a New York Rangers team that's trying to round into form.
Boston, which hasn't played for five days after two postponements against the Buffalo Sabres due to COVID protocols, enters this contest on a three-game winning streak as road favorites at Madison Square Garden.
We break down the NHL odds with our best Bruins vs. Rangers picks and predictions for Wednesday, February 10, with the puck dropping at 7 p.m. ET.
Boston Bruins at New York Rangers Betting Preview
Injuries
Bruins: Matt Grzelcyk D (Probable), Jake DeBrusk LW (Out), Jack Studnicka C (Out), John Moore D (Out), Ondrej Kase RW (Out).
Rangers: Colin Blackwell C (Questionable), Brendan Smith D (Questionable), Jack Johnson D (Out), Filip Chytil C (Out).
Find our latest NHL injury reports.
Betting Trend to Know
The Under is 6-1 in the Rangers' last seven games. Find more NHL betting trends for Bruins vs. Rangers.
NHL Sharp Money and Line Movement Report
By Patrick EversonBoston hit the FanDuel odds board as -168 chalk, initially dipped to -156, then rose as high -178 this afternoon. As of 4 p.m. ET, the Bruins are -176 while taking 88 percent of moneyline bets and 89 percent of moneyline dollars. The total opened 5.5 (Over -120) and is now 5.5 (Over -115), with the Over attracting 66 percent of bets/54 percent of money.
Check out the full line movement for this gameMoneyline Pick
The Bruins have been one of the NHL's best teams throughout the young season, losing only once in regulation over 11 games. That has them sitting in first in the East and their +12 goal differential trails only a handful of the league's heavyweights, including the Toronto Maple Leafs, Tampa Bay Lightning, Colorado Avalanche, and the surprising Montreal Canadiens.
Boston's potent top line of Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, and David Pastrnak has been the force we've all come to expect them to be. And they are especially deadly on the man advantage, so the Rangers need to stay out of the box in this one. Marchand and Bergeron are tied for a team-leading 15 points, while Pastrnak – who missed the start of the season recovering from hip surgery – has been on fire, scoring five times in four games. He hasn't missed a beat after scoring a league-tying 48 goals last season. This threesome can tilt a game fast and that's exactly what one of the premier lines in the league has been doing.
The Rangers, on the other hand, are slowly trying to turn their season around after dropping five of six games – including four one-goal losses – to start the campaign. They've since gone 3-2, continuing their trend of playing tightly contested games, but New York still sits in the basement in the East and will run into its toughest opponent of the season so far. This will be the first meeting between these two teams before they're back at it again Friday.
One of the Rangers' biggest issues has been closing, as they've blown a number of third-period leads and the club has gotten hardly any production from one of its marquee players in Mika Zibanejad. After scoring a career-high 75 points last season, he's posted just three points in 11 games, something that will have to change in order for the Rangers' offense to fire on all cylinders.
The Bruins, who have won four straight versus the Rangers, should come into this one well-rested, getting another advantage they probably didn't need. They're clearly the superior team and in a straight-up moneyline pick, the choice is obvious here. Don't overthink it: ride the Bruins.
PREDICTION: Bruins (-165)
Over/Under Pick
The Rangers, as mentioned, have played in a lot of close games this season, thanks largely to their goalie tandem of Igor Shesterkin and Alexandar Georgiev. The duo has helped New York hold teams to 2.64 goals per game – better than all but eight teams – but the problem is the Rangers are only scoring that same amount. They need Zibanejad (41 goals last season) to get back on track and provide the club with another reliable scorer alongside Artemi Panarin, who leads the team with five tallies.
The Bruins aren't allowing many goals to go through, either, because they control the puck well and no one can get shots off against them. They're surrendering a league-low 23.8 shots per game, which has helped them compensate for a team save percentage of 89.6—the fifth-worst mark in the league. Though that SV% leaves a lot to be desired, mainly due to what's started out as a down year for goaltender Tuukka Rask, the Bruins are only allowing 2.46 goals per game, ranking fourth in the NHL.
Whether that mark is sustainable remains to be seen, but it's been working for now, and the combo of Rask and Jaroslav Halak probably deserve the benefit of the doubt until proven otherwise.
Both teams rank Top 10 in shots per game, but neither is allowing a large volume of high-danger scoring chances. Combine that with the low goal-scoring totals that these teams are surrendering – the Under is 6-1 in the Rangers' last seven games and 12-5 in Boston's last 17 road contests – and this feels like another low-scoring loss for the Rangers.
PREDICTION: Under 5.5 (-105)
Bruins vs Rangers Betting Card
- Bruins (-165)
- Under 5.5 (-105)
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