The Boston Bruins enter Tuesday’s action with the most points in the Eastern Conference at 110 with a record of 49-17-12. The Bruins will try to hold off the Tampa Bay Lightning for the conference’s top spot when the two teams meet Tuesday night.
Bruins vs. Lightning 2018 odds: Boston faces Tampa Bay in key Eastern Conference clash
The Boston Bruins visit the Tampa Bay Lightning in a meeting between the top two teams in the Eastern Conference as the NHL regular season winds down.
Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports
Boston opened as a +125 road underdog against Tampa Bay for this game at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com. The Lightning will try to snap a two-game home losing streak with a win in this one.
Boston Bruins at Tampa Bay Lightning
When: Tuesday, April 3, 7:30 p.m. ET
Where: Amalie Arena, Tampa Bay
Betting Line / Total: Tampa Bay -155 / 5.5 Goals
Boston Bruins
The Bruins haven’t won a playoff series since 2014, failing to advance into the postseason in 2015 and 2016 and getting knocked out in the first round by Ottawa last season. This year’s team looks poised to turn things around with an offense that ranks second in the league averaging 3.31 goals per game and a defense that ranks third allowing 2.54 goals per game against.
Boston also ranks in the top five in both power play scoring at 23.4 percent and penalty killing at 83 percent. This is a well-rounded team with no noticeable holes heading into the postseason.
In the last nine games between these two teams, Boston is 8-1 on the moneyline including a current four-game winning streak per the OddsShark NHL Database.
Tampa Bay Lightning
The Lightning sat at the top of the Atlantic Division and the Eastern Conference for most of the season after jumping out to a 15-2-2 start through their first 19 games and a 27-7-2 start through their first 36. But a recent 1-4 skid that included a 4-2 loss in Boston has given the Bruins the upper hand in the standings with one week to go.
Goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy has been battling fatigue down the stretch in his first full year as a starter posting a 3.54 goals-against average and a .900 save percentage in 22 starts since the all-star break after owning a 2.18 goals-against average and a .934 save percentage in 40 starts before it.
Tuesday’s total is set at six goals. The UNDER is 3-0-1 in the last four games between the Bruins and Lightning.
With a game in hand and the head-to-head tiebreaker over Tampa Bay, Boston could all but lock up the Atlantic Division with a win Tuesday. Tampa Bay would love to deny the Bruins that opportunity and to turn the tides in this rivalry before a potential playoff showdown in the second round.
For more odds information, betting picks, and a breakdown of this week’s top sports betting news check out the OddsShark podcast with Jon Campbell and Andrew Avery. Subscribe on iTunes or listen to it at OddsShark.libsyn.com.
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