NHL Odds, Preview, Prediction: Canucks vs Bruins (Thursday, February 8)
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – JANUARY 20: Charlie McAvoy #73 of the Boston Bruins skates against the Montreal Canadiens at the TD Garden on January 20, 2024 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Steve Babineau/NHLI via Getty Images)
Canucks vs. Bruins Odds
| Canucks Odds | +110 |
| Bruins Odds | -132 |
| Over / Under | 6.5 +108o / -132u |
Here's everything you need to know about the Dallas Stars vs. Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday, February 8 – our expert NHL prediction and pick.
Vancouver and Boston have the two best records in the league and are both red-hot. This should be a fantastic matchup. So let's preview the upcoming contest and offer a Canucks vs. Bruins prediction.
We got our first taste of what Vancouver is like post-Elias Lindholm acquisition Tuesday. The 29-year-old scored twice on the power play to lead the Canucks to a 3-2 victory over Carolina in his debut. Although he was having a bit of a down season with Calgary, providing nine goals and 32 points across 49 contests before the trade, he surpassed the 40-goal and 80-point milestones in 2021-22 and should excel if he continues to play alongside Elias Pettersson on even strength and the power play, as was the case versus the Hurricanes.
Lindholm still won't be the hero every game, but the Canucks don't need him to be. Even before getting Lindholm, Vancouver had the second-best offense with 3.80 goals per game. Pettersson, J.T. Miller and Brock Boeser have been a tremendous offensive trio, each supplying over 20 goals and 50 points thus far, and they're complimented by one of the best offensive defensemen in the NHL in Quinn Hughes (12 goals, 64 points). What Lindholm does provide the team with extra offensive depth — which was arguably a weakness for Vancouver — and enables the Canucks to roll two elite lines as we saw Tuesday between the Lindholm-Pettersson unit along with a group headlined by Miller and Boeser.
Vancouver's defense should also improve with a two-way forward like Lindholm on the roster, though again, he's just making an already good group even better. Before the trade, Vancouver also ranked second defensively with 2.55 goals allowed per game. Though there was a bit more need there. If you take goaltending out of the equation by looking at Vancouver's xGA/60 of 2.95, then the Canucks drop to 10th overall. Thatcher Demko deserves credit for his stellar work — he has a 27-8-1 record, 2.43 GAA and .920 save percentage through 36 appearances — and his job is a little easier.
Demko is penciled in to start again Thursday. He's riding a personal nine-game winning streak, but his next adversary is as tough as they come.
Boston's overall offense has been somewhat below the Canucks' this year with an average of 3.44 goals per game, but the best forward on the ice Thursday will arguably be wearing a Bruins jersey. David Pastrnak had an incredible 61 goals and 113 points in 82 contests last campaign, and he's having a similarly dominant 2023-24 season. Through 50 appearances, he's already contributed 33 tallies and 73 points. Somehow he seems to be getting even better too, supplying eight goals and 16 points over his past nine outings.
No one else comes close to Pastrnak, but the Bruins do have other scoring threats. Outside of Pastrnak, they have five other players with at least 30 points (Brad Marchand, Charlie Coyle, Charlie McAvoy, James van Riemsdyk and Pavel Zacha) and five with at least 10 tallies (Marchand, Coyle, Trent Frederic, Jake DeBrusk and Zacha). For a team that lost Tyler Bertuzzi, Taylor Hall, Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci over the summer, it's impressive that the Bruins' depth is still solid.
Like the Canucks, Boston is also great at its own end of the ice, ranking fourth defensively with 2.62 goals per game. Linus Ullmark, who is likely to get the start after Jeremy Swayman got the nod versus Calgary, has taken a step back from his Vezina Trophy-winning 2022-23 campaign, but he's remained solid with a 15-6-2 record, 2.78 GAA and .913 save percentage in 24 outings. Ullmark's also coming off a great start in which he saved 35 of 37 shots en route to a 6-2 victory against Philadelphia, so the Bruins don't have much to worry about in net.
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Canucks vs. Bruins
Betting Pick & Prediction
Boston (31-10-9) has a slightly worse record than the Canucks (34-11-5), and the Bruins' offense and defense are a step below them too, but there isn't much separating these two teams. Both teams are also on a roll — Boston has won seven of its last nine contests while Vancouver is 10-0-2 over its last 12 games.
You might be inclined to give the Canucks a slight edge, but the Bruins' home-ice advantage might even the scales. Boston is a dominant 16-5-3 at home while the Canucks have taken a slight step back on the road, posting a 16-7-3 record.
With so little dividing these two teams, I'm going to shy away from a moneyline bet and instead recommend taking the over of 5.5 goals. While the Bruins and the Canucks do boost great goaltenders, they also are two of the best offensive teams in the league, so with the over being low, I see it as a bet with reasonably good odds of coming to fruition.
If you're looking for a bigger payout, you could roll the dice on the Canucks, who are being treated as mild underdogs despite how even this match should be.
Pick: Over 5.5 (-140 | Play down to -150)
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