by Chuck Sommers
Monday, Dec 05, 2022
Time: 7 p.m. ET
Venue: TD Garden, Boston, MA
Where to watch: ATTSN-RM, NESN, TVAS, ESPN+
Opening Odds at USA Sportsbooks
DraftKings: Bruins -175, Golden Knights +150
FanDuel: Bruins -176, Golden Knights +146
BetMGM: Bruins -161, Golden Knights +135
Caesars: Bruins -170, Golden Knights +143
Season record
Golden Knights: 18-7-1
Bruins: 20-3-0
Two months into the NHL season, and man, what action we’ve had. So much parity, so many good teams through the first 10-plus games, you have every right to be excited! It’s still a three-team race between Vegas, Boston and New Jersey. But this is a good time to be playing these hockey games, as well. Look no further than our own Doc's Sports on a 14-7-0 run over the first 30 days of the NHL season. There's also ASA, Inc. posting a 12-5-1 mark through the first month. You know you can trust our champion handicappers to get you across the finish line with your NHL bets. Check out our Best Bets page at bigal.com to see what we're throwing down!
Golden Knights - Bruins preview, prediction and analysis
Recent results
Golden Knights: won 4-1 at Red Wings on Saturday
Bruins: won 5-1 vs. Avalanche on Saturday
Golden Knights analysis
Welcome back, Bruce Cassidy. This seems to be your time. The new Vegas Golden Knights coach returns to where he established himself over the last six years. It just so happens that this group he’s facing has won 15 straight at home and is the best team in the league this year. Of course they are.
The Golden Knights haven’t had a string of consistency over the last 11 games, but are coming off a 4-1 win against the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday to improve to 2-1-0 on the road trip. Jack Eichel scored for the second straight game, and Jonathan Marchessault and Phil Kessel added goals that required the goalie. Reilly Smith added an empty-net goal for the final score.
But things aren’t looking so hot for Vegas right now. Eichel left the third period late with what seemed to be a leg injury, on top of the face injury he suffered Monday in Columbus when he took the puck off Nic Hague’s shot. He’s a game-time decision, and I have no idea how the lineup will look if things change up last minute.
On top of that, defenseman Alex Pietrangelo has not been with the team on the trip due to a personal matter and he will not play on Monday. Expect a lot more of Shea Theodore playing all situations like he has over the course of the trip.
And you should also expect a battle between the two winningest goalies in the league, starting with Logan Thompson coming off a career-high 43-save performance in the loss to Pittsburgh on Thursday.
Bruins analysis
What the Boston Bruins have put together over the course of this season is truly remarkable. And not only that, but TD Garden has become the most dangerous place to play. The Bruins are carrying a franchise record 15-game home winning streak into this game against the top team in the Western Conference.
No, I wouldn’t be shocked if you thought of this as a Stanley Cup Final preview.
You see the line and you can see why Boston is the favorite in this matchup. It’s not often that the Golden Knights also find themselves this heavy of an underdog, but that’s a testament to hwo good the Bruins have been. Boston is 10-1-0 in its last 11 games while scoring 42 goals and only giving up 19. The lone loss was on Nov. 23 to the Florida Panthers, a 5-2 defeat at the hands of the most inconsistent, mind-boggling team of this season.
But the Bruins have been carried by the play of David Pastrnak, who is making a case for the Hart Trophy that no one is talking about at this moment. Linus Ullmark is also the leader in the clubhouse for the Vezina Trophy with his 14-1-0 start. I know the Buffalo Sabres probably wish they had him right now.
But that’s also a testament to how good the defense has been in front of Ullmark. Only eight goals in the last 11 games have been up at 5-on-5, while Boston has allowed 11 power play goals. They’ve also dominated the possession game by controlling 52 percent of shot attempts in those games. The Golden Knights are going to need to do better in this instance for a chance to win.
Prediction
I would normally like the upset here, but if Eichel and Pietrangelo are not playing, the Golden Knights need a Herculean effort from Thompson. As cool as it would be to see Cassidy get the better of Boston, it might be too much. Bruins win 4-2
Betting trends
Golden Knights are 22-8 ATS on the road in the first half of the season the last 2 years.
Bruins are 16-3 off a win in the last game this season.
The over is 26-13 after the Golden Knights play a non-conference game the last 2 seasons.
Bruins are 10-0 after allowing 2 goals or less in 2 straight games this season.
Projected lines
Golden Knights:
Chandler Stephenson -- Jack Eichel -- Mark Stone
Jonathan Marchessault -- William Karlsson -- Reilly Smith
Paul Cotter -- Nicolas Roy -- Phil Kessel
William Carrier -- Jake Leschyshyn -- Keegan Kolesar
Brayden McNabb -- Shea Theodore
Nicolas Hague -- Alec Martinez
Ben Hutton -- Zach Whitecloud
Logan Thompson
Bruins:
Brad Marchand -- Patrice Bergeron -- Jake DeBrusk
Pavel Zacha -- David Krejci -- David Pastrnak
Taylor Hall -- Charlie Coyle -- Trent Frederic
Nick Foligno -- Tomas Nosek -- A.J. Greer
Hampus Lindholm -- Charlie McAvoy
Matt Grzelcyk -- Brandon Carlo
Derek Forbort -- Connor Clifton
Linus Ullmark
Statistical leaders
Golden Knights:
Points: Jack Eichel -- 29
Goals: Jack Eichel -- 13
Assists: Alex Pietrangelo -- 18
Goalie: Logan Thompson – 12-5-0, 2.54 GAA, .920 SV%
Bruins:
Points: David Pastrnak -- 34
Goals: David Pastrnak -- 16
Assists: David Pastrnak -- 18
Goalie: Linus Ullmark – 14-1-0, 1.93 GAA, .936 SV%
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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.
