The Boston Bruins will be looking for their sixth straight win Tuesday night as they host the Carolina Hurricanes, who have dropped just three games in their last 13 contests.
Can Tuukka Rask equal the performance of his season debut from last week? Can the Hurricanes continue to be the best road team in hockey? Find out in our free NHL betting picks and predictions for the Hurricanes vs. Bruins.
Hurricanes vs Bruins odds
Odds via the Covers Line, an average comprised of odds from multiple sportsbooks.
The Bruins opened at -130 on the moneyline and moved to -140 by early Tuesday morning. The total sits at a flat 5.5. Carolina closed as a -135 home favorite in the last meeting in late October with a closing total of 5.5. Carolina won that game 3-0, which included an empty-netter.
Use the live odds widget above to track any future line movements right until puck drop and be sure to check out the full NHL odds before betting to ensure you get the best number.
Hurricanes vs Bruins predictions
Predictions made on 1/18/2022 at 9:00 a.m. ET.
Click on each prediction to jump to the full analysis.
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Hurricanes vs Bruins game info
• Location: TD Garden, Boston, MA
• Date: Tuesday, January 18, 2022
• Puck drop: 7:00 p.m. ET
• TV: NESN, Sportsnet
Hurricanes vs Bruins betting preview
Injuries
Hurricanes: Jacob Slavin D (Probable), Martin Necas F (Out).
Bruins: Nick Foligno F (Questionable), Trent Frederic F (Questionable), Matt Grzelcyk D (Out).
Find our latest NHL injury reports.
Hurricanes vs Bruins head-to-head record (since 2019)
Hurricanes: 2-10 SU, 22 goals for.
Bruins: 10-2 SU, 38 goals for.
Betting trend to know
The Under is 12-3-1 in the Hurricanes’ last 16 games as a road underdog. Find more NHL betting trends for Hurricanes vs. Bruins.
Hurricanes vs Bruins picks and predictions
Our predictions are compiled from the analysis of the spread and total and are indications of where we are leaning for this game.
Our best bet is the play that we like the most for this game, which we would actually put some of our bankroll behind.
Moneyline analysis
Since we’ve flipped the calendar, the Boston Bruins own the league’s third-best point percentage with an 8-1 SU mark and have picked up wins against Tampa Bay, Nashville, and Washington along the way.
The biggest reason for this great play has been an offense averaging 4.44 goals in January, which is second only to the Avalanche. With Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak playing on different lines, the wingers have combined for 17 total goals over Boston’s last nine games. The power play has been good (24.1% in January), but Boston is generating a ton of offense at even strength while getting production from the blueline as well as the bottom-six forwards. The only thing scaring us from taking the Bruins tonight is between the pipes.
Tuukka Rask made his first start since the 2021 playoffs last Thursday in a 3-2 win over the Flyers. But the Finnish goalie showed no signs of rust, preserving the Bruins’ late one-goal lead and finishing with an impressive 1.97 goals saved above expected, per MoneyPuck. He looked impressive and made some big saves at key moments.
Oh no, a breakaway! ????.
Wait a sec... that's Tuukka Rask back there. Just chill #NHLBruins pic.twitter.com/mvQ2qeVA7n Northern Lights Sports (@NLightsSports) January 14, 2022
Rask and the surging Bruins will host the best road team in hockey as the Hurricanes enter Tuesday's game with a 13-5 SU record on the road this season with a league-leading 2.28 road GAA. However, their road opponents of late might have helped pad those stats. Over their last 10 road games, Carolina has dropped four games (Vancouver, Dallas, Seattle, and San Jose) and has beaten some average teams in Columbus, Edmonton, Calgary, and Winnipeg. There are very few statement wins in that group.
The Canes looked awful in a 6-0 loss to the Blue Jackets at home two games ago and needed a third-period equalizer to steal a point from Florida in the game before that. Yes, this team is 10-3 SU in its last 13 but it's beaten up on some of the league’s worst and has played seven of its last eight games at home.
Frederik Andersen should get the start for the Canes with them not having to play next until Friday. The Danish goaltender is 6-1 SU in his last seven starts but has given up eight goals over his last three. He blanked the Bruins back in October but this Bruins offense is in top form coming into Tuesday night's meeting. Freddy can definitely steal a win but with the Bruins’ sudden surge in 5-on-5 production, we’re leaning on the home side as the books have these two clubs ranked evenly. Carolina closed as -135 home favorites in the last meeting.
Prediction: Bruins ML (-140)
Over/Under analysis
Even with the offense that the Bruins are bringing to the table, these are two of the best defensive teams in hockey at 5-on-5. The Bruins sit sixth while the Canes are second in even-strength goals allowed. They both rank in the Top-3 in Fenwick and Corsi% while the Bruins have the lowest expected goals against at 5-on-5 in hockey. The last meeting saw just three total goals with one coming on the power play and another being scored into the empty net.
The Canes are 5-5 O/U in their last 10 games, which is saying something as Overs were hitting at over 60% in the weeks following the restart. That trend is starting to fade, however, as Unders are making an LL Cool J-style comeback with a 56% hit rate over the last seven days.
These teams have played a similar style of hockey over the last few seasons and the Under is 7-3 over the last 10 meetings dating back to 2019. Boston is 8-10-1 O/U at home this season while the Hurricanes are 7-10-1 O/U on the road.
We aren’t expecting many goals on the power play, either as both clubs sport Top-7 penalty kills. The Canes have the best penalty-killing unit in hockey on the season and have killed off an incredible 34 straight penalties, which dates back to December 8. The Bruins PP will be in tough tonight.
Andersen has also enjoyed playing against the Bruins (in the regular season) as he owns a 2.33 GAA over 16 career games versus Boston. Not to be outdone, Rask has also held his own against the Canes over his career and owns a 2.27 GAA in 17 games vs. Carolina.
With two of the best 5-on-5 teams in hockey and a pair of goalies with success against their opponent, we’re not hesitant to hit an Under 5.5 here.
Prediction: Under 5.5 (-110)
Best bet
No team allows fewer high-danger and medium-danger chances than the Bruins. Rask bailed the club out in his debut and Bruce Cassidy will likely make it a point of emphasis to tighten up in front of his goaltender for tonight. Both teams have elite penalty kills, which also hurts this game’s prospect of goals.
After nearly three weeks of Overs dominating the league, it looks like the Unders are starting to even out those numbers, which was to be expected as the league was scoring at an unsustainable rate following the Christmas break. Both teams are healthy and playing great hockey, which has us liking the Under 5.5 even more.
Pick: Under 5.5 (-110)
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