by Chuck Sommers
Wednesday, Jan 18, 2023
Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
Venue: UBS Arena, Elmont, NY
Where to watch: TNT
Opening Odds at USA Sportsbooks
DraftKings: Bruins -175, Islanders +150
FanDuel: Bruins -172, Islanders +142
BetMGM: Bruins -165, Islanders +140
Caesars: Bruins -179, Islanders +150
Season record
Bruins: 34-5-4
Islanders: 23-18-4
We’ve hit the halfway mark in the NHL season. Yes, you read that right. We’re really hit that halfway mark that quickly. If you blinked, you probably missed a lot of good things happen in the hockey world. And with football about to be out of the way, look for our champion handicappers to get back on the rink. Oskeim Sports is on a 13-5-0 run in the NHL over the last 30 days, as is Will Rogers. Sean Murphy has also cashed in with a 16-10-0 run in the last month. Make sure you’re following our champion handicappers at bigal.com to get on this winning action!
Bruins - Islanders preview, prediction and analysis
Recent results
Bruins: won 6-0 vs. Flyers
Islanders: lost 4-3 (OT) vs. Capitals
The Boston Bruins will be playing the New York Islanders on Wednesday, January 18 in Long Island, New York.
The Boston Bruins won against the Philadelphia Flyers last Monday, January 16 in Boston, Massachusetts with a score of 6-0. The Boston Bruins currently rank 1st in the Atlantic Division. David Krejci had three assists in his 1,000th NHL game. Pavel Zacha and David Pastrnak each had two goals and an assist, Brad Marchand and Matt Grzelcyk each had a goal and an assist and Jeremy Swayman made 29 saves for the Bruins.
"I think a lot of players have so much respect for him and rightfully so," Boston coach Jim Montgomery said. "He's a Bruins legend, and he showed why tonight. He makes everyone around him better."
It’s almost kind of comical that we’re talking about a 7-3 run on the money line in the last 10 for the Bruins as disappointing, but that’s just a testament to how good they’ve been this year. If we’ve gotten to further than the halfway mark and the Bruins’ first regulation loss at home came to the surging Seattle Kraken, you’re going to take that nine times out of 10. The Bruins are still scoring a lot of goals, evidenced by the overs and pushes over the last few weeks, and are still getting tremendous goaltending from Linus Ullmark, still the favorite for the Vezina Trophy.
"I'm just glad the way the team is playing. It speaks for itself.” Krejci said. “I feel this could be a special year. We know what we have in this room; we don't take it for granted."
The New York Islanders lost against the Washington Capitals last Monday, January 16 in Long Island, New York with a score of 4-3 in overtime. The New York Islanders currently rank 5th in the Metropolitan Division. Sebastian Aho, Matt Martin, and Hudson Fasching scored for New York. Ilya Sorokin made 31 saves.
"The initial thoughts right now [are] you're disappointed in how it finished," Islanders defenseman Noah Dobson said. "We got off to a good start, and anytime you [have] a three-goal lead … we got one point, but you [have] to find a way to close that out and get both points. Unfortunately, we didn't."
The dog days of the NHL season have finally descended upon Lane Lambert’s group. This team can’t score at any situation and haven’t been able to get anything from anyone. It’s truly a sad state of affairs for the Islanders. Prior to the loss to the Capitals, they had been held to two goals or less in their last four losses. They even were held to two in the win against Montreal on Jan. 14. There’s no consistency with this group.
"We've got to figure out a way to close it out.” Islanders captain Anders Lee said “We've got to regroup here. We've got a big week in front of us, a couple of games in a couple of days, a back to back. This one's going to sting."
Prediction
I do not envy the position that Ilya Sorokin has to face with this Bruins lineup. This might be on par for the easiest shutout of the year for Ullmark given New York’s recent history. Slam the under, too. Bruins 4, Islanders 0
Betting trends
Bruins are 20-4 after winning 3 of 4 this season.
Bruins are 17-3 off a home win this season.
Bruins are 21-3 after playing at home this season.
Islanders are 107-144 at home revenging a road loss to an opponent since 1996.
Projected lines
Bruins:
Brad Marchand -- Patrice Bergeron -- David Pastrnak
Taylor Hall -- David Krejci -- Craig Smith
Pavel Zacha -- Charlie Coyle -- Trent Frederic
Nick Foligno -- Tomas Nosek -- A.J. Greer
Matt Grzelcyk -- Charlie McAvoy
Hampus Lindholm -- Brandon Carlo
Derek Forbort -- Connor Clifton
Linus Ullmark
Islanders:
Zach Parise -- Mathew Barzal -- Josh Bailey
Anders Lee -- Brock Nelson -- Simon Holmstrom
Anthony Beauvillier -- Jean-Gabriel Pageau -- Hudson Fasching
Matt Martin -- Casey Cizikas -- Cal Clutterbuck
Parker Wotherspoon -- Ryan Pulock
Alexander Romanov -- Scott Mayfield
Sebastian Aho -- Noah Dobson
Ilya Sorokin
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Chuck Sommers
About the Author:
Chuck Sommers has camped outside of sportsbooks since he can remember, learning the tricks and nuances of the trade. He still has nightmares of betting $5,000 on the Raiders in the Tuck Rule game but has since turned that to 25 years of veteran handicapping greatness. You can find him mostly in the shadows at the Red Rock or Aliante casinos wondering if the over is cashing on any given Sunday.
