Each team’s third game of the season, the Ottawa Senators and the Boston Bruins face off at TD Garden for a divisional matchup. New England Sports Network will broadcast the game, and the puck drops at 1 p.m. ET on Monday, October 8.
Ottawa Senators at Boston Bruins Odds
Ottawa (+220) is currently the underdog to Boston (-260) and the oddsmakers have set the Over/Under (O/U) at 6 goals (-110 for the over, -110 for the under).
Boston is 1-1 straight up (SU) and has recorded -0.1 units for moneyline bettors this year. That winning percentage, ranked 3rd in the Atlantic Division in this young season, is a regression from the 50-32 record that the team posted during the 2017-18 season campaign. .
The Bruins have successfully connected on 33.3 percent of their power play opportunities in 2018-19. That’s a big improvement from last season, when they were ranked second in the league by scoring on 25.0 percent of their extra-man opportunities. Their penalty kill has fallen off significantly year-over-year as they’ve gone from successfully defending 82.5 percent of opponents’ power plays (ranked fourth overall last season) to 50.0 percent this year.
As a collective unit, the Bruins have been penalized 6.0 times per game this season, a number that’s regressed substantially from the 3.8 penalties per game they gave up last year. After serving an average of 9.4 penalty minutes per game a year ago, the team has had to stave off opponent power plays for a noteworthy 19.0 minutes per matchup this season.
Boasting a .960 save percentage and 24.0 saves per game, Jaroslav Halak (one win, one loss) has been the best option in goal for Boston this year. If head coach Bruce Cassidy chooses to give him a breather, however, the team might go with Tuukka Rask (0-1-1 record, .737 save percentage, 10.92 goals against average).
On the other side of the ice, Ottawa is 1-1 straight up (SU) and has netted moneyline bettors 1.4 units this year. Through two regular season matches, two of its games has gone over the total, while zero have gone under and none have pushed.
The Sens have scored on 20.0 percent of their power play chances this year after converting on 16.5 percent of their extra-man opportunities in 2017-18 (a percentage that was ranked just 26th in the NHL). The team has gone from successfully defending 76.1 percent of opponent power plays (ranked 27th overall last season) to 80.0 percent in 2018-19.
Ottawa’s players have been penalized 2.5 times per game this season, a number that has improved from the 3.5 penalties per game given up last year. After serving an average of 8.1 penalty minutes per game a season ago the team’s had to kill penalties for just 5.0 minutes per matchup this year.
Craig Anderson (.913 save percentage and 3.48 goals against average) has been the main option in goal for Ottawa. Anderson is averaging 36.5 saves per game and has one win, one , and one OT loss to his credit.
Ottawa Senators at Boston Bruins Betting Predictions
Prediction: SU Winner – Bruins, O/U – Over
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Notes
Betting Trends
Boston was 3-3 in games that ended in a shootout last season. Ottawa was 2-7 in shootouts.
Ottawa skaters recorded 24.0 hits per game last season, while the Bruins logged 24.3 hits per matchup.
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