Game 43: Boston Bruins vs Seattle Kraken Lines, Betting, Preview

The Boston Bruins (25-14-3, 53 pts) welcome the Seattle Kraken (14-26-4, 32 pts) to TD Garden for the first-ever meeting between the B’s and the NHL’s newest expansion club (7:05 PM ET, NESN, ROOT-NW).

The Bruins will look to bounce back from a humiliating 6-1 loss to the Stars in Dallas on Sunday and head into their week break on a positive note.

“You have to have a short memory,” Boston Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy said Tuesday after the game-day skate Tuesday. “I think at times, good and bad, we’ve had that. There’s been some nights we’ve played well, and we have to remind them why. And there’s nights where we haven’t been ourselves and we were able to put it behind us. At the end of the day, usually good leadership will get the guys’ attention. You’ve got to be ready to go.

“Couple things like that are good enough to get you going in the right direction. That’s been the case for us. Obviously, [Brad Marchand, David Pastrnak, Patrice Bergeron], those guys don’t have off nights very often, so they take a lot of pride in their game. They usually get us going, they’re the guys we rely on, and the other guys are good followers in that regard.”

Betting Prediction:

Per our friends at BetUS, the OVER is 4-0 in the Bruins’ last four games after scoring two goals or less in their previous game. Also, the over is 4-1 in the last five home games for the B’s. That combined with the fact the Bruins tend to bounce back strong after a rough game has us liking a strong start by the Bruins.

That’s why our BetUs play for the game here is the Bruins first period PUCK LINE (+110) and the game going OVER 5.5 (-125).

Prediction: Bruins 5 Kraken 2

Remember, at BetUS, players get a 125% Bonus (for any sport, but it helps to hype a specific reason, such as hockey or football). Players also get a 200% bonus if they use Crypto. You can join BetUS by clicking here.

Boston Bruins Notes

-Boston Bruins goalie Linus Ullmark is getting his fourth consecutive start for the Black and Gold. The 28-year-old goaltender stopped  He’ll be backed up by rookie netminder Jeremy Swayman, who was just called back up from the Providence Bruins.

-Boston Bruins forwards Nick Foligno (concussion) and Trent Frederic (upper-body) skated in normal practice jerseys at the game-say skate on Tuesday but will not play vs the Kraken tonight. Forward Erik Haula remains in COVID protocol and goalie Tuukka Rask (lower-body) will not dress for a second straight game. Cassidy told the media Sunday that there is still a good chance that Rask goes to Providence (AHL), on a conditioning stint during the upcoming All-Star break.

-With Haula still out, forward Tomas Nosek will remain slotted between Taylor Hall and David Pastrnak, and Craig Smith moves back up to the top line with Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand. That leaves Oskar Steen back down on the third line with Charlie Coyle

Seattle Kraken Notes

-Chris Driedger will start for the Kraken tonight. The former Florida Panthers goalie is 3-6-0 with a 3.18 GAA and .896 save percentage.

-Three of the left wings for the Kraken are former Boston Bruins players. Former Bruins winger Marcus Johansson is riding the left-wing slot on the top line and has five goals and ten assists in 33 games. Ryan Donato is on the second line and has nine goals and seven assists in 39 games this season. After being waived by the Boston Bruins on Jan. 16 and claimed by the Kraken the next day, Karson Kuhlman is on the fourth line with no points in five games with Seattle.

-On defense, former Bruins defenseman Jeremy Lauzon has a goal and four assists in 35 games and is on the second pairing tonight.

-Jared McCann leads the Kraken in points (10g, 28a) with 38 points.

Forwards

Brad Marchand – Patrice Bergeron – Craig Smith

Taylor Hall – Erik Haula – David Pastrnak

Jake DeBrusk – Charlie Coyle – Oskar Steen

Anton Blidh – Tomas Nosek – Curtis Lazar

Defense:

Matt Grzelcyk – Charlie McAvoy

Mike Reilly – Brandon Carlo

Derek Forbort – Urho Vaakanainen

Goalies:

Linus Ullmark

Jeremy Swayman

Seattle Kraken Lines:

Forwards:

Marcus Johansson – Jared McCann – Jordan Eberle

Ryan Donato – Alex Wennberg – Joonas Donskoi

Mason Appleton – Yanni Gourde – Colin Blackwell

Karson Kuhlman – Riley Sheehan – Morgan Geekie

Defense:

Mark Giordano – Adam Larsson

Vince Dunn – Jeremy Lauzon

Haydn Fleury – Cale Fleury

Goalies

Chris Driedger

Philipp Grubauer