Pittsburgh Penguins at Boston Bruins NHL Picks & Predictions 3/1/2018

Thursday, March 1, 2018

TD Garden

Get todays NHL hockey odds on this game.

The Pittsburgh Penguins travel to TD Garden to play the Boston Bruins on Thursday, March 1, 2018. The opening line for this game has the Penguins at +116 and the Bruins at -128.

Pittsburgh has a record of 36-24-4 this season and on the road they have a record of 13-16-3-2. They are 3rd in the Metropolitan Division. They've scored 208 goals and given up 190 goals for a point differential of +18. For the season they have an ATS record of 36-28-0 and an over/under record of 34-28-0. Boston is 38-15-8 including 20-7-4-0 at home this season. They are 3rd in the Atlantic Division. They've scored 199 goals and surrendered 153 for a goal differential of +46. Their record against the spread is 38-23-0 while their over/under record is 28-32-0.

Valuable Pittsburgh Penguins Betting Trends

The Pittsburgh Penguins are 36-28-0 straight up this year

The Pittsburgh Penguins are 34-28-0 against the over/under this season

Important Boston Bruins Betting Trends

The Boston Bruins are 38-23-0 straight up this year

The Boston Bruins are 28-32-0 against the over/under this season

Key Pittsburgh Penguins Injuries

02/27/18 C Josh Jooris Acquired is "?" Thursday vs Boston
02/27/18 GO Matt Murray Concussion is out indefinitely

Key Boston Bruins Injuries

02/27/18 RW Brian Gionta Acquired is "?" Thursday vs Pittsburgh
02/27/18 C Patrice Bergeron Foot is out indefinitely
02/27/18 D Nick Holden Undisclosed is "?" Thursday vs Pittsburgh
02/01/18 LW Anders Bjork Shoulder IR (01/30)

Player Spotlight

Phil Kessel has accumulated 70 total points this season for the Penguins. He has 26 goals this year with 217 shots on goal, giving him a shooting percentage of 12%. He has a total of 44 assists on the season and averages 18.8 minutes played per game. Sidney Crosby averages 20.8 minutes of ice time per game this year. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 12% by scoring 21 goals on 182 shots. He has 48 assists, giving him a total of 69 points on the season. Casey DeSmith has 3 wins and 4 losses this season in net for the Penguins. He has 226 shots against him and he's given up 17 goals. He's made 209 saves for a save percentage of 93%.

Player Spotlight

David Pastrnak has scored 55 total points this year for the Bruins. He has 22 goals this season with 160 shots on goal, giving him a shooting percentage of 14%. He has a total of 33 assists on the season and averages 17.8 minutes played per game. Patrice Bergeron averages 19.4 minutes of ice time per game. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 14% by scoring 27 goals on 198 shots. He has 27 assists, giving him a total of 54 points on the season. Tuukka Rask has 25 wins and 11 losses this year in goal for the Bruins. He has 1,123 shots against him and he's surrendered 89 goals. He's made 1,034 saves for a save percentage of 92%.

Useful Team Statistics

The Penguins have 76 total points this season, which ranks them 12th in the NHL. They are 5th in the league in goals scored with 208 while they've given up 190 goals, ranking them 13th overall. They have had 204 power play opportunities and have scored 55 goals on those chances for a percentage of 27%. That is 1st in the NHL. The Penguins have allowed 210 power play opportunities and have given up 37 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 82%, putting them 12th in the league when short-handed. They average 34 shots per game and as a team shoot 9.49% for the season. They allow 31 shots to their opposition per contest and have a team save percentage of 91%. That puts them 23rd in the league in stopping the puck.

Useful Team Statistics

The Bruins are 5th in the NHL with a total of 84 points this year. They have 37 power play goals on 189 opportunities for a percentage of 20%. That ranks them 18th in the league as a power play unit. They've allowed 180 power play opportunities and have given up 32 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 82%. That is 13th in the NHL. As a team, the Bruins are 8th in the league with 199 goals scored while they've given up 153 goals, which is 31st overall. They average 32 shots per contest and have a team shooting percentage of 10.08%. As a team they give up 29 shots per game and have a save percentage of 92%. That is 6th in the NHL.

Advanced Statistics

Pittsburgh has a Corsi percentage of 51.6% as they've tried 3,880 shots on goal while at full strength while they have surrendered 3,645 shots on net when they have a full team on the ice. That ranks them 7th in Corsi percentage. They are 8th in the NHL in Fenwick percentage with 52.1% as they have 2,953 shots while they've given up 2,718 attempts on defense. The Penguins start possessions in the offensive zone 51.8% of the time while their defensive zone percentage is at 48.2% for the year. That puts them 12th and 22nd in the league in zone percentages respectively. They have 2,002 face-off wins as opposed to 1,978 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 50.3%. That is 15th overall in the NHL. On defense Pittsburgh has 1,546 hits and they've blocked 927 attempts from opposing offenses, which is 16th in the league.

Advanced Statistics

The Bruins are 3rd in the league in starting possessions in the offensive zone, doing so 55.2% of the time. Their defensive zone percentage is at 44.8% for the season, which is 29th in the NHL. They have 1,939 face-off wins compared to 1,832 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 51.4%. That is 8th in the league. On defense Boston has 1,451 hits and they have blocked 814 shots from the opposition, which is 30th in the league. Boston is 3rd in the NHL in Corsi percentage with 52.5% as they've attempted 3,623 shots on net at full strength while they've given up 3,283 shots on net in the same situations. Their Fenwick percentage of 52.6% ranks 2nd as they have 2,737 attempts while they have given up 2,469 shots on the defensive end.

Who will win tonight's Penguins/Bruins NHL game against the spread?

Tony's Pick: Take Boston -128

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