Game 63: Bruins vs Oilers, Betting Lines, Preview

Here’s your Boston Hockey Now Boston Bruins Game Day Preview:

Boston Bruins (49-8-5, 103 pts) vs Edmonton Oilers (35-22-8, 78 pts)

TIME: 7:30 p.m. ET

TV: ESPN+, hulu

Radio: 98.5 The Sports Hub

Here’s the DraftKings Massachusetts Sportsbook Betting lines:

Money Line: Bruins (-170), Oilers (+145)

Puck Line: Bruins -1.5 (+140), Oilers +1.5 (-165)

Over/Under: OVER 6.5 (-125), UNDER 6.5 (+105)

Boston Bruins Notes

-The Boston Bruins will try to make it 11-straight wins as they welcome the Edmonton Oilers to TD Garden on Thursday night. Despite Oilers superstar center Connor McDavid scoring two goals and hitting the 50-goal plateau for the first time in his career, the Bruins beat the Edmonton Oilers 3-2 on February 27 in Edmonton.

-Per @bostonsportsinf, the Bruins can clinch a playoff spot tonight with the following scenario:

Bruins

Officially clinch a playoff spot tomorrow night with…

1. B's win
2. Sabres, Islanders and Senators all lose in regulation

not that a single person was sweating it

— Boston Sports Info (@bostonsportsinf) March 8, 2023

-A win tonight would also make the Bruins the fastest team to reach 50 wins.

-New Boston Bruins defenseman Dmitry Orlov has made an instant impact for the Bruins with three goals and six assists in his first five games with the team. Now Orlov will be entrusted to jumpstart a struggling Bruins powerplay as head coach Jim Montgomery will use him on the top unit.

-Tonight’s game starts a stretch of 11 games to close out the month of March. During that stretch, the Bruins will play every other night and back-to-back, Saturday and Sunday, each of the final three weekends in March.

-Leading Vezina Trophy candidate Linus Ullmark is expected to get the nod against the Oilers. Ullmark is 32-4-1 with a 1.89 GAA and a .938 save percentage.

Edmonton Oilers Notes

-The Connor McDavid show comes to TD Garden tonight. McDavid is riding an eleven-game point streak with an astonishing 12 goals and 11 assists over that span. McDavid now has 54 goals, and 124 points in 65 games played this season.

-This will be a very different-looking Edmonton Oilers team than the one the Bruins beat nine days ago. The Oilers made two key additions before the NHL trade deadline last Friday. They acquired defenseman Mattias Ekholm from the Nashville Predators and then got center Nick Bjugstad from the Arizona Coyotes. In addition to that, the Oilers will get rugged winger Evander Kane back after he missed 31 games with a wrist injury and another eight with broken ribs.

-Since the 3-2 loss to the Bruins on Feb. 27, the Oilers have gone 3-1-0.

Boston Bruins Lineup:

Forwards

Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-Jake DeBrusk

Pavel Zacha-David Krejci-David Pastrnak

Tyler Bertuzzi-Charlie Coyle-Trent Frederic

A.J. Greer-Tomas Nosek-Garnet Hathaway

Defense:

Dmitry Orlov-Charlie McAvoy

Hampus Lindholm-Brandon Carlo

Derek Forbort-Matt Grzelcyk

Goalies:

Linus Ullmark

Jeremy Swayman

Edmonton Oilers Lineup:

Forwards

Evander Kane–Connor McDavid–Zach Hyman

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins–Leon Draisaitl–Kailer Yamamoto

Warren Foegele–Nick Bjugstad– Mattias Janmark

Klim Kostin–Ryan McLeod-Derek Ryan

Defense

Darnell Nurse–Cody Ceci

Mattias Ekholm-Evan Bouchard

Brett Kulak-Vincent Desharnais

Goalies

Stuart Skinner

Jack Campbell