Boston Bruins vs New Jersey Devils Prediction, 1/14/2021 NHL Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Boston Bruins vs New Jersey Devils

Date: Thursday, January 14, 2021

Location: Prudential Center in Newark, NJ

TV: NHL Center Ice

Odds/Point Spread: Bruins (-140) Devils (+120)

MacKenzie Blackwood and the New Jersey Devils play the Boston Bruins at Prudential Center on Thursday. The Devils open this contest at +120 while the Bruins are priced at -140. The O/U is set at 5.5.

The Bruins were on the wrong end of the scoreboard with a 3 - 2 loss against the Lightning in their last game of last season. The Bruins left a lot to be desired in terms of their offense in the defeat. For the matchup, they netted 2 out of the 47 shots they looked to score on. Furthermore, they had 4 power play opportunities and netted 1 goal out of those attempts. Boston earned 8 penalty minutes in this matchup. The Corsi for the Bruins was 89 and the Corsi against was 84 meaning they had a Corsi percentage of 51.4%. Their Fenwick was 56 while the Fenwick against sat at 52, meaning they had a Fenwick percentage of 51.9%. They took 30 face-off wins and lost 48 tries to control the puck. Their offensive zone starts came in at 48.4% and they had a PDO of 92.8 for this one. Regarding their opponent, the Tampa Bay Lightning racked up 35 shots. They ended the game with 8 minutes in the box and they tallied 4 power play opportunities.

The man looking after the goal for Boston is Tuukka Rask from Caledonia, Ontario. He is 32 years old and played a total of 2,402 mins protecting the net last year. Rask surrendered an average of 2.12 goals against average which had him ranked 2nd in the East and 2nd in the NHL among goalies. Over the course of last season, he allowed 85 goals. He held a save % of .929 which had him ranked 3rd in the East. They scored a total of 227 goals which put them at 6th in the East and 7th in the NHL. Their goal differential was +60, ranking them 1st in the NHL. The Bruins earned a total of 100 points, which put them at 1st in the NHL and 1st in the conference. Regarding shots at the opposing goalie, they earned a total of 2,247 which put them at 6th in the Eastern Conference and 10th in the NHL. As a team, Boston had a total of 1,562 hits which means they averaged 22.3 per contest. They earned a total of 754 blocks for the year.

The Devils faced the Penguins in a matchup where the Devils took the defeat by a mark of 5 - 2 to close out last season. New Jersey had a 37.7% Corsi rating. They wound up with that percentage by having a Corsi of 29 while they allowed a Corsi of 48. They had a Fenwick percentage of 46.6% by earning a Fenwick of 27 and the Penguins having earned a 31 Fenwick. These Corsi statistics are telling of the type of game that New Jersey played and we'd say it was a below average outing in all. They had a PDO of 86.3 and they finished this one with an oZS percentage of 50.0%. The Devils notched 2 goals out of the 22 shots on goal they tried. They had 3 power play opportunities in this one and were able to notch 1 out of those chances. In discussing the opposition, the Penguins had 4 power play attempts but didn't put the puck in goal. New Jersey conceded 33 shots on goal and the Penguins had 6 minutes in the box.

In net for New Jersey is MacKenzie Blackwood who had a marginal campaign by giving up 2.77 goals against average and that has him 16th in the Eastern Conference and 31st in the NHL among goalies. In the 2,684 mins he has played last year, he allowed 124 goals. He earned a save percentage of .915, which ranked him 8th in the Eastern Conference and 22nd in the NHL among goalies. When looking at goal differential, they ranked 14th in the Eastern Conference and 27th in the NHL with -39. They compiled a total of 185 goals for this year which had them sitting at 14th in the conference. New Jersey had a team save percentage of .901 which was good for 19th in the NHL, meaning there should be some opportunities to score. They had a team shooting percentage of 8.7% which was good for 13th in the East.

Who will win tonight's hockey game against the spread?

Tony's Pick: Take Boston (-140)

Get $60 worth of FREE premium member picks. No Obligation. No Salesman. No Credit Card. Fast Sign up with Instant Access Click Here