Ottawa at Boston (Puck Line -1.5 goals +115)
Not often this season have we seen the Bruins get blanked like they were on Monday night by Charlie Lindgren and the Caps, indeed more than two months since the last time Boston was whitewashed (ironically vs. the same Washington). Also, the Bruins don’t often lose back-to-backs, something that’s happened only once in nearly two months.
Thus, getting the idea that we like the bounce-back spot tonight for the Bruins, especially as the loss at Washington denied them a chance to wrap up the Atlantic Division title; now, the Bruins need a result tonight in the regular-season finale to assure they won’t get jumped by the Panthers for the top spot in the division into the playoffs.
Even as the Presidents’ Trophy (poisoned chalice that it is) is now off the table after the Rangers won last night, getting the top spot in the Atlantic remains important, and why Jim Montgomery likely doesn’t rest many key cogs before the playoffs start on the weekend.
It should be Linus Ullmark’s turn in goal after Jeremy Swayman featured in D.C. last night, which hasn’t been a problem for Boston (Ullmark’s 22-9-7 record and 2.59 GAA are almost identical to Swayman’s numbers), and the Sens don’t figure to to dig too deep tonight with their season ending without another playoff reward, and looking like they were running for the bus in last night’s limp 4-0 loss to the Rangers at MSG.
Staying ahead of Montreal at the bottom of the Atlantic table is all that Ottawa might be playing for in the finale, and the Sens might suffer a similar fate as their last visit to TD Garden four weeks ago tonight, when David Pastrnak scored a hat trick and Boston rolled by a 6-2 count.
Riding with the Bruins on the Puck Line doesn’t seem like going very far out on the limb tonight. PLAY BRUINS on PUCK LINE