Game 52: Boston Bruins vs San Jose Sharks Lines, Betting, Preview

The Boston Bruins (30-17-4, 64 pts) have found their way to San Jose and will continue their six-game road trip against the San Jose Sharks (23-22-6, 52 points).

The Bruins come in on the heels of a 3-2 overtime win over the Seattle Kraken and the Sharks enter this tilt after beating the New York Islanders 4-3 in a shootout in Zdeno Chara’s record-breaking game.

This is the final meeting of the season between the Bruins and Sharks. The last two times these two teams met was on Oct. 24 in Boston. The Boston Bruins took a 4-1 lead into the third period but had to stave off a late rally from the Sharks and held on for a 4-3 win. Brad Marchand, David Pastrnak, and Derek Forbort each had a goal and an assist for the Bruins; Patrice Bergeron had two assists and Jake DeBrusk also scored for the B’s. Jasper Weatherby, Tomas Hertl, and Timo Meir lit the lamp for the Sharks. Boston Bruins goalie Linus Ullmark stopped 23 of 26 shots to improve to 2-0-0. For the Sharks, Aidin Hill was relieved after allowing four goals on 14 shots and James Reimer stopped all 20 shots he faced.

Boston Bruins rookie goalie Jeremy Swayman will get the nod in the rematch tonight. Swayman has won his last two starts and is 3-0-1 with a shutout since his last loss on Feb. 8. He’s 11-7-3 with a 2.09 GAA and .925 save percentage.

Reimer gets the nod for the Sharks. The former Maple Leafs goalie who was between the pipes for the Bruins’ famous three-goal comeback in the waning minutes of Game 7 in the first round of the 2013 Stanley Cup playoffs, is 14-11-5 with a 2.90 GAA and .913 save percentage. Reimer made 44 saves in the Sharks’ win this past Thursday.

Betting, Prediction: Saturday night’s alright for the B’s! Per our friends at BetUS, the Boston Bruins are 7-0 in their last seven Saturday games. The Bruins are also 4-1 in their last five road games vs. a team with a losing home record. The Under is 4-0-2 in Bruins’ last six games.

That’s why our BetUs picks for the game here is the Bruins Puck Line (-1.5) at +140 and the UNDER 5.5 at -120.

Prediction: Bruins 4 Sharks 1

Boston Bruins Notes

-Jake DeBrusk scored two goals, including the overtime winner, in the win over the Kraken Thursday. DeBrusk now has goals in three straight games with four lamplighters over that span.

-Boston Bruins winger David Pastrnak has caught fire again. With a goal this past Thursday, Pastrnak now has goals in three straight games as well. Pastrnak leads the Bruins with 28 goals this season.

-The Bruins are 29-0-3 when scoring the first goal and 9-9-1 when their opponent lights the lamp first.

-The Bruins come into this tilt 28-1-2 when leading after the second period.

San Jose Sharks Notes

-The Sharks have scored the second-fewest goals in the Western Conference and the third-fewest in the NHL. On Saturday Sharks heaf coach Bob Boughner got candid about the lack of scoring this season and admitted that despite losing a distraction in the dressing room when his team parted ways with Evander Kane, the Sharks do miss the scoring threat the troubled winger brought.

“You throw your top goalscorer out and take him out of your lineup, I think if you went through any team, throw Kopitar out of LA,” Boughner said, unprompted, “It’s going to affect your team. That’s my point for bringing that up.”

-Winger Timo Meir leads the Sharks in goals (23), assists (29) and points with 52.

-Sharks center Tomas Hertl, who has been bantered about in NHL trade rumors all season, has 22 goals and 20 assists.

Boston Bruins Lines:

Forwards

Brad Marchand – Patrice Bergeron – Jake DeBrusk

Taylor Hall – Erik Haula – David Pastrnak

Trent Frederic – Charlie Coyle – Craig Smith

Anton Blidh/Jesper Froden-Tomas Nosek-Nick Foligno

Defense:

Matt Grzelcyk – Charlie McAvoy

Mike Reilly – Brandon Carlo

Derek Forbort – Connor Clifton

Goalies:

Jeremy Swayman

Linus Ullmark

San Jose Sharks Lines:

Forwards:

Meier-Hertl-Barabanov

Dzingel-Couture-Gregor

Cogliano-Bonino-Nieto

Gadjovich-Weatherby-Viel

Defense:

Middleton-Burns

Ferraro-Vlasic

Simek-Merkley

Goalies:

Reimer

Hill