NHL Odds, Preview, Prediction: Bruins vs. Red Wings (November 30)

Bruins vs. Red Wings Odds

Despite the fact that the Boston Bruins have  four games in hand over the Detroit Red Wings, these two original six teams are currently neck and neck in the Atlantic Division standings.

The Red Wings (10-9-3) come into Boston on a two-game winning streak, defeating the Buffalo Sabres and the St. Louis Blues. The Bruins (11-7-0), have been a tad streaky, but they had a strong bounce-back win on Sunday night against the Vancouver Canucks.

These two have already met once in Boston, with the Bruins skating to a 5-1 win after their captain, Patrice Bergeron scored four goals.

Red Wings Youngsters Rising to the Occasion

The Red Wings have formed a completely new identity this season thanks to impressive performances from a couple of young phenoms.

Lucas Raymond has emerged as the favorite in the race for the Calder Trophy as the NHL's top rookie. Raymond currently leads the Red Wings in points with 21 (nine goals, 12 assists) and has made a name for himself around the league.

Raymond's teammate, Moritz Seider, is the third-favorite for Rookie of the Year. The German defenseman has 14 points (two goals, 12 assists) and looks well on his way to becoming a No. 1 defenseman.

Detroit's modestly successful start to the season seems legitimate, as the Wings have skated to a very respectable 51.9% expected goals rate. Detroit's xG numbers haven't exactly translated to on-ice success as the Wings are allowing 0.46 more goals per game than they are scoring, but it is still noteworthy that this team is driving play with some success this season.

The Red Wings have pretty much split the time between their goaltenders Alex Nedeljkovic and Thomas Greiss this season. Detroit's head coach, Jeff Blashill, hasn't announced a starter for this contest yet, but Nedeljkovic has seemingly established himself the No. 1 netminder, posting a record of 6-3-3 with a .918 Save Percentage (SV%) and a 0.6 Goals Saved Above Expected (GSAx).

Boston Bruins Need Secondary Scoring

For many years now, the Boston Bruins have relied on The Perfection Line to carry the offense. That is the case once again this season as Brad Marchand (24 points), David Pastrnak (18 points) and Patrice Bergeron (18 points) have all lit up the scoresheet to start the season.

The Bruins will be without Marchand for this game through suspension, however, so it will be worth keeping an eye out to see who gets bumped up to play with Bergeron and Pastrnak.

The most obvious candidate is former MVP Taylor Hall, who has five goals and five assists in 18 games. That is a decent return for middle-six players, but much more is expected out of Hall and other depth players like Craig Smith, Erik Haula and Jake DeBrusk.

On the back-end things look fine as the Bruins are allowing the fewest expected goals and high-danger scoring chances per 60 minutes. Charlie McAvoy has been terrific as the team's No. 1 defenseman and has quarterbacked their power play to a 25.5% conversion rate, which is the fifth-best mark in the NHL.

Goaltending has not been an issue for this team in year's past thanks to Tuukka Rask, but with the Finnish netminder on the sidelines still the Bruins are struggling a bit in the blue paint. Linus Ullmark is coming off of a very strong outing, but overall this season he has not been anything to write home about. Ullmark has skated to a 5-3-0 record with a .914 SV%, but his -3.3 GSAx suggests he's underperforming.

Bruins vs. Red Wings Pick

Even though the Bruins are a tight-knit defensive unit, I think this game has enough ingredients for a play on the Over 5.5.

On one hand, Ullmark has struggled in net and the Red Wings are a high-event team, averaging 11.73 high-danger chances for and 12.97 high-danger chances against per 60 minutes at 5-on-5.

And for the Bruins, even though they are not getting a ton of production from their depth players, they are still scoring more than three goals per game and their top players should have success against a leaky defense.

Pick: Over 5.5 (-110)