Boston Bruins at Toronto Maple Leafs Free NHL Picks & Odds
by Tony Sink - 4/2/2014
Thursday, April 3, 7:30 PM on TSN, RDS2, NESN
Air Canada Centre, Toronto, Ontario
For Updated Odds on This Game Click Here
Boston is inching towards their second President's Trophy in franchise history as they close out the last 6 games of their season. St. Louis is hot on their trails though and while the Blues draw a game with last place Buffalo, Boston has to play postseason hopeful Toronto on the 2nd night of a back-to-back schedule. A win would be a luxury for the Bruins but it's a necessity for the Maple Leafs as they trail Columbus by only a point for the 8th spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
The Bruins have been playing indicatively of the best team in the NHL lately, winning 9 of 10 games from March 13th to March 30th. In fact their only “loss” came in a shootout against Montreal after returning from a 3-game road stretch. Boston might not want to see the calendar change to April as they went 15-0-1 in March after losing their first two games back from the Olympic hiatus. Tuuka Rask and Chad Johnson have been a two-man wrecking crew in net allowing just 2.05 goals a game, best in the NHL.
Toronto has just 5 games remaining but will be the more rested team Thursday after playing only 1 game in 4 days. The Maple Leafs have played their way out of playoff contention as it stands after losing 8 straight games. They were able to right the ship in their last outing against Calgary but instead of limping towards the playoffs, they're sprinting out of them.
A second win on the year against a tired Boston team could be enough of a boost to propel Toronto towards the 8 seed. The Bruins burned a big hole in bettors' pockets when the two teams last met up on January 14th. The Bruins were -191 favorites and entered the second period in a 2-2 tie with the Leafs. Toronto scored the next two goals and held off Boston in the third for a road upset and a +175 payout for money line backers.
ATS Trends
Boston is 23-13 straight up on the road this season
Boston is 22-11-3 against the over/under on the road this season
Toronto is 23-16 straight up at home this season
Toronto is 24-14-1 against the over/under at home this season
Injuries to Watch
Boston
12/28/13 D Dennis Seidenberg Knee out for season
12/07/13 LW Jay Pandolfo None has retired
02/28/14 D Adam McQuaid Quad out indefinitely
Toronto
No injuries to report at this time
Tony's Pick: Take Boston
Get $60 worth of FREE premium member picks. No Obligation. No Salesman. No Credit Card. Fast Sign up with Instant Access Click Here
Read more articles by Tony Sink
Get all of Tonight's Free NHL Picks.
Get all of Tonight's Expert Expert NHL Picks.