NHL: Carolina Hurricanes vs Boston Bruins Odds Preview
‘Canes Dropped Two of Three After 7-0-1 Run, B’s Enjoy 7-Point Lead
The Carolina Hurricanes (25-15-5, 55 points) play a one-off road game in Boston before returning home for a 5-game homestand, where they will have played 11 of their last 12 when the home cooking ends on February 13th at Dallas. The Hurricanes are 5 points behind the New York Rangers for the top spot in the Metropolitan Division.
The Boston Bruins (29-8-9, 65 points) continue to lead the Atlantic Division by seven points over the slumping Florida Panthers. Oddsmaker has made the Bruins a -135 favorite with a total of 6 (under -120). Puck-drop from the TD Garden is at 7:30 p.m. ET / 4:30 p.m. PT and can be seen on TNT.
Hurricanes vs Bruins 
Day/Time:
Location: TD Garden, Boston, MA
Streaming: Watch Live Sports
Carolina On Collision Course With History
While watching the Carolina 5-2 loss to the Minnesota Wild on Sunday, we noticed we were watching a team that will run into the same issues in the postseason that they’ve had in the past because their shot attempts aren’t of quality enough to be among the big boys in the league come playoff time.
In our latest NHL power ratings, Carolina (11th) has dropped out of the top 10. Against the top 10 teams, Carolina is 4-7 and against the top 16 NHL teams, they’re just 10-10. Their shoot-from-every-spot-on-the-ice philosophy works against the Detroit Red Wings and the Anaheim Ducks but it’s not good enough to get them by the Boston Bruins.
The Hurricanes are fourth in total shots (33.38 per game) but just 14th in shot percentage (10.2%). That mimics the problem the team had last NHL season when they were third in shots per game (34.78%) but just 26th in shot percentage (9.2%). In the postseason, the Canes’ were fourth in total shots in 15 games, but 14th in shot percentage (8.5%) among 16 teams.
These trends will continue against teams like tonight’s opponent if the shot quality doesn’t improve to a success rate of at least 11%. We continue our Hurricanes vs Bruins odds preview by turning our attention to the B’s.
Bruins Stiff Arm Panthers At Top Of Atlantic
The Florida Panthers have one more chip to get off their shoulder and that’s overcoming the Boston Bruins for division supremacy. The Panthers won 9-straight to get close while the Bruins played with their food for a couple of weeks, but Boston smelled trouble and reeled off a 9-game point streak and 13 of their last 14, with a 6-5 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins being their only blemish.
The run pushed the Panthers closer to the third-place Maple Leafs than it did to Jim Montgomery’s team. We have Boston as the top team in the NHL with a 6-5 record against the top 10 and 13-10 against the top 16. The Bruins have simply done what they were supposed to against the league’s easiest schedule to date, but of their next three games against Ottawa, Philadelphia, and Calgary, this will be the biggest test of those NHL match-up’s.
Boston’s strength comes from their goaltending (fourth in goals against and third in save percentage) and special teams where they own a success rate on the power play of 26.8% (4th in the league). Over the last two seasons, Boston has been on the right side of most NHL hockey scores with a 94-20-14 record since the 2022-23 season.
You don’t need to use your NHL betting odds calculator to know that’s a regular season win percentage of .777 by NHL record and .734 for bettors. Two marks that are difficult to bet against.
Public Taking Plus Money
It’s very early to form a solid betting pattern in this one but experience tells us that the house will need the Bruins and we’ll be right there with them. Not too often do we get a number that doesn’t start with two when the B’s are at home so we’re going to take full advantage.
Although the Bruins are very good on the road, they’re especially difficult at home with a 16-6 (+2.49 units) record. Over the last three seasons at the Garden, Boston is 79-31 (.718) +8.68 units. In that span, they are the top team in the league to bet on at home with the New York Rangers second with 6.71 units won (74-42).
We conclude our Hurricanes vs Bruins odds preview by recommending a play on the Boston Bruins. All the best with your Wednesday NHL picks and parlays.
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