Hockey fans will be treated to a juicy match-up on Thursday night as Eastern Conference leaders, the Boston Bruins (26-8-9), host the third seed in the Western Conference, the Colorado Avalanche (29-13-3).
Can Boston’s stingy defense stop Colorado’s hot offense? Bookmaker Pinnacle offers odds at +106 for the visitors to score under 2.5 goals in regulation, while the odds for the over are at -126. Boston’s goals total stands at 3.5, with the odds for the over at +125 and the under at -149.
※ Current Odds Date & Time: January 17th, 7:00 P.M. (EST)
Colorado averages the second-most goals in the league (3.73), and the 2022 Stanley Cup champions didn’t have any problems generating offense when the two teams met in Denver last week – a Valeri Nichushkin effort secured the team a 4-3 shootout victory.
Since then, Nichushkin has entered the NHL/NHLPA player assistance program and will be away from the team indefinitely. His absence is a major blow for the Avalanche, who have already been without Artturi Lehkonen and Gabriel Landeskog in the attack. However, Colorado has continued to tick and enters Thursday’s action with an 8-2-0 run.
Boston has gone 6-1-3 in its last 10 games. The team holds the fifth-best goals-against average in the league (2.63), and it’s always difficult to score against the Bruins. Their defense is also set for a boost on Thursday as goaltender Linus Ullmark is healthy again and ready to contribute if needed.
The Bruins are blessed with two strong goalies and have just seen Jeremy Swayman shut out New Jersey, which might have earned him another start on Thursday, but Ullmark is a very good alternative option to have.
It will be a great test for either Ullmark or Swayman. The Avalanche lineup has taken various hits, but the team should do just fine as long as Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen remain healthy. The duo has combined for 130 points this season, with MacKinnon on 72 points and sharing the top scorer honors in the league with Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov.
MacKinnon travels to Boston holding a nine-game point streak, and he’s been held off the score sheet just three times since the beginning of November. It’s been an incredible season for the Avalanche superstar, and MacKinnon should relish the opportunity to shine against one of the top defenses in the league. He settled for one power-play assist in last week’s meeting.
