Game 6: Boston Bruins @ Hurricanes Lines, Preview, Betting

The Boston Bruins will try to bounce back from a 4-1 loss to the Florida Panthers Wednesday as they wrap up their two-game, back-to-back, road trip against another undefeated team, the Carolina Hurricanes (5-0-0) Thursday night in Raleigh at 7 PM ET (NESN, BSSO).

While the read here is that the Boston Bruins were outclassed against the Panthers and not ‘outplayed a little’ as head coach Bruce Cassidy said in his postgame presser, Cassidy knows they need to be better if they’re going to even hang with the high-flying Hurricanes on Thursday.

“We got outplayed a little,” Cassidy said. “It’s not like it was one team dominated. I thought we each had our way in a period. The third, they did what they had to do to put the game away. We did have a push, but it came down to a couple of plays in each end where they got a save or they finished or the opposite.”

All of the things we did well in the first period, specifically managing the puck against a good offensive team, we did the exact opposite in the second. It started right away. It snowballed in the second period and that’s where it got away from us,” Cassidy added later. “Below the goal line breakouts, we got pinned in our own end, forced some plays, mismanaged some pucks, and on the power play our skill guys on their backhand basically turning pucks over. Then we got line changes and chasing the game, and that’s where it got away from us. They finished a little better and they got a little bit better goaltender, however, you want to break it down. They ended up being a little better in a pretty tight game.”

Betting Line, Picks: 

The Boston Bruins are +115 underdogs at most online sportsbooks. Playing on the tail end of a back-to-back against another undefeated team in the Hurricanes is a tall task so we’re not on the Bruins here. However, we do like the total to go over 1.5 goals in the first period (-125) and over 5.5 goals for the game (-115).

Prediction: Hurricanes 5 Bruins 3

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Boston Bruins Notes

-Boston Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman will make his third start of the season after going 1-1-0 in the first two games of the season. He comes into this game with a 3.02 GAA and a .885 save percentage. He has allowed six goals on 52 shots.

-The Perfection Line was far from perfect in the loss to the Panthers. Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak each had four-game point streaks snapped and Patrice Bergeron didn’t register a point after doing so in two straight games.

– Boston Bruins forward Craig Smith did not make the trip and remains sidelined with an upper-body injury.

Carolina Hurricanes Notes

-The Hurricanes are looking to win their first six games of a season for the second time in franchise history.

– A familiar face will be between the pipes for the Hurricanes. Former Toronto Maple Leafs goalie Frederik Anderson appears to be the new No. 1 goalie for the Hurricanes. Apparently, it wasn’t Anderson who was to blame for some of those poor performances against the Boston Bruins the last few years because he has basically been lights out for the Canes. Anderson has allowed just one goal in his last three starts and comes in at 5-0-0 with a 1.60 GAA and a .946 save percentage. If Anderson gets the W tonight he will become the first goalie in NHL history to win his first six games with his new team.

-Andrei Svechnikov leads the Canes in goals with five lamplighters and points with nine. He’s also tied for the lead in assists with Teuvo Teravainen with both having four assists.

Boston Bruins Lines (Based On Wednesday Night)

Forwards:

Brad Marchand – Patrice Bergeron – David Pastrnak

Taylor Hall – Jack Studnicka – Charlie Coyle

Jake DeBrusk – Erik Haula – Karson Kuhlman

Trent Frederic – Tomáš Nosek – Curtis Lazar

Defense:

Matt Grzelcyk – Charlie McAvoy

Mike Reilly – Brandon Carlo

Derek Forbort – John Moore

Goalies:

Jeremy Swayman

Linus Ullmark

Carolina Hurricanes Lines

Forwards:

Andrei Svechnikov – Sebastian Aho – Teuvo Teravainen

Jesperi Kotkaniemi – Vincent Trocheck – Martin Necas

Nino Niederreiter – Jordan Staal – Jesper Fast

Jordan Martinook – Derek Stepan – Steven Lorentz

Defense:

Jaccob Slavin – Ethan Bear

Brady Skjei – Brett Pesce

Ian Cole – Tony DeAngelo

Goalies:

Frederik Andersen

Antti Raanta