Bruins Should Stop Senators Tonight

Bruins vs. Senators, 7:00 ET

I'm back! That's right let's get excited for another hockey play from what I would consider the worst hockey handicapper on the internet right now. Look, I probably am nowhere near the worst, but this season has been awful. If I want to find a silver lining, I talked a bit about the game likely going under. That was the right read, but the play was a loss. Perhaps it is that I don't play every day. I openly mention that hockey is my least knowledgeable of the big four sports. Tonight, I'm going to keep grinding, looking, hoping, searching, for a win in the game between the Bruins and Senators.

The Bruins come into this game with a very nice 29-9-9 record and first place in the Atlantic Division. This isn't that much of a surprise considering how good they were last season. While 20 wins over .500 seems great, in reality they've lost 18 games because of the overtime losses. What is encouraging is that they are keeping games close. The problem is they aren't closing the deal in those games. Still, 29 wins is nothing to be disappointed about right now. Their team is led by David Pastrnak who already has 67 points in the 47 games played. He continues to drive the offense and set up his teammates. The Bruins are pretty hot right now as well, having won four of the past five games, but those were all home games. The Bruins have one of the better offenses in the NHL with 3.45 goals against per game, and they still sport one of the better defenses at just 2.65 goals against per game. What is a bit surprising to me is that they are allowing more shots to opponents in each game than they are taking. That is usually not a good recipe for success. The Bruins are one of the best teams in the league in Power Play situations and even very good in the penalty kill situations. The Senators have a lot of penalty minutes this year and that could be the difference in this matchup.

NEWARK, NJ - MARCH 25: Shane Pinto #57 of the Ottawa Senators gets ready to take a faceoff in the second period of the game against the New Jersey Devils at the Prudential Center on March 25, 2023 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Rich Graessle/NHLI via Getty Images)

The Senators are not a very good team this season with a record of just 18-24-11 this season and only 12-11-1 at home. While their home record does indicate more success than on the road, it doesn't make you think they turn into some sort of juggernaut on their home ice. What is eye-popping to me is that they shoot more shots than their opponent, but allow more goals. They take two more shots per game than their opponent but are scoring just 3.40 goals per game as opposed to 3.61 per game they are allowing. They really struggle in Power Play opportunities. They score on just 15% of their chances and are only stopping three of four of their opponent's chances. If they lose the penalty minute battle tonight, the Bruins will coast to victory. The good news for them is that the Bruins aren't that far behind in terms of penalty minutes this season. The Senators have also played pretty decent hockey lately with three wins in their past four games. Their only loss was in overtime against the Jets.

What I like about the Senators chances tonight is that they didn't have to play last night, and they didn't have to travel last night. They got to enjoy a day of rest. The Bruins, on the other hand, have to play their third game in four nights and had to travel to Ottawa. The Bruins have gone 2-2 in similar situations this season, but both losses came at the hands of the Islanders, a decidedly better team than the Senators. The other consideration is that the Bruins are only 3-7 on the first game of a road trip as well. Still, I can't overlook the difference of the teams and know that Boston is the one to take in this at -135.

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