Game 55: Boston Bruins @ Vegas Golden Knights Lines, Betting, Preview

The Boston Bruins (32-18-4, 68 pts) will look to bounce back from a sloppy game and a 4-3 loss to the Anaheim Ducks Tuesday when they face the Vegas Golden Knights (30-20-4, 64 pts) at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

If there was one word to describe the loss to the Ducks on Tuesday, it would be, as described in the BHN Talking Points after the game, it was ‘sloppy’ and the Bruins know that they can’t get loosey-goosey with the puck again.

“The way we ended the other night in Anaheim, I don’t think we can get complacent…I think our guys will probably still have that taste in their mouth where they let points get away,” Boston Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy said after the game-day skate Thursday.

The Vegas Golden Knights come into this game off a tight defensive performance in a 3-1 win over the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday night. The Knights will be trying to sweep the season series after beating the Bruins 4-1 at TD Garden back on December 14.

Boston Bruins rookie goalie and the NHL Rookie Of The Month for February, Jeremy Swayman will be looking for his fifth straight win as he returns between the pipes for the B’s. Swayman is 5-0-1 with a 1.95 GAA and .971 Save% in his last six games. He’s 13-7-3 overall with a 1.95 GAA and .929 save percentage.

Robin Lehner is expected to get the nod for Vegas tonight. Lehner returned to the Knights lineup on Tuesday and made 16 saves in the 3-1 win. Lehner is 20-13-1 with a 2.81 GAA and .907 save percentage.

Betting, Prediction: Per our friends at BetUS, the UNDER has hit in four straight Knights games.  With that and the fact that Swayman has been lights out for the Bruins lately, the UNDER 5.5 is our BetUs pick for the game.

Prediction: Knights 3 Bruins 2 (OT)

Boston Bruins Notes

-The Bruins will look to have a much better start in Vegas than they did in Anaheim Tuesday. If they can come out of the first period with the lead, the Boston Bruins will be in good shape to leave The Strip with a win. The Bruins are 20-2-1 when leading after the first period. However, they are 4-11-2 when trailing after the opening frame.

-David Pastrnak rolls into Vegas as the hottest Bruin with a six-game point streak in tow. Pastrnak has five goals and four assists during that span and is now tied for the team lead in points (54) with Brad Marchand.

Golden Knights Notes

-This will be the first time that former Buffalo Sabres captain and Boston University star Jack Eichel will face the Bruins as a Golden Knights player. Since making his season debut on Feb. 18, Eichel has a goal and three assists.

-Chandler Stephenson leads the Knights in points with 14 goals and 27 assists for 41 points.

Boston Bruins Lines:

Forwards

Brad Marchand – Patrice Bergeron – Jake DeBrusk

Taylor Hall – Erik Haula – David Pastrnak

Trent Frederic – Charlie Coyle – Craig Smith

Nick Foligno-Tomas Nosek-Jesper Froden

Defense:

Mike Reilly – Charlie McAvoy

Matt Grzelcyk – Brandon Carlo

Derek Forbort – Connor Clifton

Goalies:

Jeremy Swayman

Linus Ullmark

Golden Knights Lines:

Forwards:

Evgenii Dadonov – Jack Eichel – Chandler Stephenson

Reilly Smith – William Karlsson – Jonathan Marchessault

William Carrier – Nicolas Roy- Michael Amadio

Keegan Kolesar – Brett Howden – Jonas Rondbjerg

Defense:

Brayden McNabb – Shea Theodore

Alex Pietrangelo – Ben Hutton

Zach Whitecloud – Nicolas Hague

Goalies:

Robin Lehner

Laurent Brossoit