Bruins Winners Of Four Straight; Listed as -130 Money Line Favourites Over Lightning

• The Boston Bruins (-130) are winners of four straight and are 8-2 in their last 10 games 
• The Tampa Bay Lightning  (+118) are 5-5 in their last 10 games
• The Bruins Beat the Lightning 2-1 back on March 3rd but are 1-2 against Tampa Bay in the season series – get our betting prediction below

The Atlantic Division-leading Boston Bruins (43-13-12, 22-3-9 home) host the second-place Tampa Bay Lightning (42-20-5, 20-10-3 away), in what should be a playoff-style battle Saturday night. The Bruins vs Lightning odds show the home team as they betting favorite, on the strength of their current four-game win streak.

Puck-drop is set for 7pm ET.

Tampa Bay Lightning vs Boston Bruins Odds

Odds taken March 7

Big Bad Bruins on Four-Game Win Streak

With their 2-1 OT victory over the Florida Panthers on Thursday night, The Boston Bruins won their fourth straight game and look to be every bit the Stanley Cup favourites they have been pegged as.

It was Torey Krug who proved to be the hero this time for Boston, working a pretty play with David Pastrnak that allowed Boston to strike. Patrice Bergeron also scored his 30th of the season, making it the third straight season he has hit that plateau.

The Bruins are actually nine points better than on this date in 2019 – a year that ended in a trip to the Stanley Cup Final and a loss to the Blues.

Their offence revolves around the first line of Pastrnak with 47 goals and 46 assists, Bergeron with 30 goals and 27 assists and Brad Marchand with 28 goals and 85 points.

Krug is the team’s top defencemen with nine goals and 39 assists, while Charlie McAvoy has 30 points and is +21. Goalies Tuukka Rask and Jaroslav Halak provide the best goalie tandem in the league with a 2.13 and a 2.39 GAA, respectively.

Lightning 5-5 in Their Last 10 Games

Tampa Bay was first in the Atlantic this date last year and looked to be the favourites to win the Cup before their monumental first round collapse against Columbus Blue Jackets in the first round.

This season, they trail the Bruins in the Atlantic, while treading water at 5-5 in their last 10. They did beat the Montreal Canadiens 4-0 on Thursday, completing a four-game season series sweep of the lowly Habs.

The Lightning are 2-1 against the Bruins this season, winning 4-3 in a shootout on October 17 and 3-2 on December 12. They lost 2-1 to Boston on Tuesday this week.

The Lightning only managed 20 shots on Rask in the loss, with Mitchell Stephens scoring for the lone goal for Tampa Bay.  Prior to beating Montreal, the Lightning had lost five of six in regulation.

THAT'S MR. VICTOR HEDMAN TO YOU pic.twitter.com/alZHSi6OXa

— x – Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) March 6, 2020

The Lightning’s offense is number one in the NHL with 235 goals. Nikita Kucherov, last year’s Art Ross and Hart winner, sits seventh in league scoring with 82 points.

It was announced at the end of February that Steven Stamkos, second on the team with 66 points, will be out 6-8 weeks with a core muscle injury. Brayden Point and Victor Hedman should be able to pick up some of the slack, but it will be difficult for the Lightning to play tough games without one of their best players.

Tampa Bay’s defence is also without Ryan McDonagh and Jan Rutta. McDonagh plays 20 minutes a night and anchors the second pairing. With Zach Bogosian and Luke Schenn forced to play more, the Lightning look more vulnerable to attacks by teams like the Bruins top line.

The Best Bet

Despite having a winning record against the Bruins this season, Tampa Bay has some key injuries to players like Steven Stamkos and on defence with Ryan McDonagh out. The Bruins are firing on all cylinders with four straight wins and should be able to handle the NHL’s number one ranked offence.

Pick: Boston Bruins  ML  (-130), Spread -1.5 (+190)