Undefeated Bruins Favored To Sweep The Three Games in California

Anaheim Defenseman Jamie Drysdale Is Questionable for the Game

· Oct 22 - 5 minutes read

It wasn’t easy, but the Boston Bruins are still one of the three remaining undefeated teams after star forwards Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak combined for three goals and three assists in a win over the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday. The NHL best bet predictions list the visiting Bruins as the favorite.

Keep an eye on the status of Anaheim defenseman Jamie Drysdale. He has missed the last two games with a lower-body injury and is questionable for this game.

Undefeated Bruins Favored To Sweep The Three Games in California

Boston has won five of the last seven games against the Ducks. With Boston priced at -250 to win the Oct. 22 matchup, this will be the ninth straight time that the Bruins are favored against Anaheim.

Longtime Ducks defenseman Hampus Lindholm scored a goal in his first game back in Anaheim since his 2022 trade to Boston so perhaps he will record his first point of the 2023-24 season. Former Bruins forward Frank Vatrano has accounted for four of Anaheim’s 10 goals during a 1-3 start.

The last time Boston was the underdog against Anaheim came in the 2017-2018 season.

When it comes to making hockey bets for Oct. 23, keep an eye on the player props for Pastrnak and Marchand.

Boston winger Jake DeBrusk was a healthy scratch for the Los Angeles game after he was late for a meeting so check to see if he is in the lineup against the Ducks.

When looking at the NHL playoff odds, Boston (+1400) has the seventh-best odds to win the Stanley Cup with Anaheim well back at +25000 in the championship odds.

So Far, So Good in the Post-Bergeron Era for the Bruins

Despite losing Patrice Bergeron, one of the top defensive forwards in NHL history, and veteran forward David Krejci, the Bruins were 18-for-18 on the penalty kill before Carl Grundstrom scored for the Los Angeles Kings with 1:10 left the last time out.

Trent Frederic has moved into a penalty-killing role to join Marchand, Pavel Zacha, Charlie Coyle, rookie John Beecher and Jake DeBrusk. With DeBrusk out of the lineup against the Kings, Patrick Brown was fifth among the Boston forwards in time on ice during the penalty kill.

When looking at the NHL odds, keep in mind that Anaheim has lost 13 of its last 17 games.

Ducks Struggling To Seal The Deal

Since Vatrano scored three times to lift the Ducks to their lone win of the season, Anaheim has managed to score three times in the last two games. With the losses to the Dallas Stars and Arizona Coyotes, the Ducks have now lost 10 straight one-goal games.

Ryan Strome, Trevor Zegras, Adam Henrique and Jacob Silfervberg combined for 70 goals a season ago for Anaheim but they have yet to score this season.

Anaheim has been outscored 5-1 in the second period of games and 7-1 with the man advantage.

The NHL betting lines total has gone under in four of Toronto’s last six home games.

Young Players in the Spotlight

Rookies Leo Carlsson, the No. 3 pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, and Pavel Mintyukov, picked 10th in the 2022 draft, each have scored their first career NHL goals for the Ducks. For Boston, rookie forwards Matthew Poitras and John Beecher are among 13 players with points through the first four games.

Poitras and Carlsson come in at +250 and +300 in the odds to score a game in this matchup.

Bruins vs Ducks Game Prediction

Predicted Score: Bruins 3, Ducks 1

Pastrnak Looks To Keep it Going for Bruins

Pastrnak has five goals and two assists in his last four games against the Ducks. He has a chance to move into a tie for the NHL’s goal-scoring lead after tallying a career-high 61 goals for the Bruins a season ago.

While he doesn’t always play on a line with Marchand, they teamed up on three of the four goals scored by the Bruins in the win over Los Angeles.

David Pastrnak scored his fifth goal in four games as the @NHLBruins aim to stay perfect to start the season.#NHLStats: https://t.co/JsHVwfQ8HB pic.twitter.com/Gqqkvj3ETH

— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) October 22, 2023

NHL Pick: Boston Bruins -1½ (-105)

Bet on Total To Go Under

The Bruins rank 22nd and the Ducks are 27th in goals scored 5-on-5 so far this season so if the teams remain disciplined, this has the potential to be a low-scoring affair.

Only Washington is winning fewer faceoffs than Anaheim and even without Bergeron around to dominate in the faceoff department, the Bruins look to use their advantage on draws to create more scoring opportunities.

Even though four of the last five meetings between the Bruins and Ducks finished over the total, it won’t be a surprise to see this one go under the total.

NHL Pick: Over 6