Blackhawks vs. Bruins prediction: buy low on Boston in this NHL matchup

Ahead of Tuesday night’s NHL matchup in Chicago, we’re set to provide our Blackhawks vs. Bruins prediction and best bet.

Neither side arrives in particularly good form with the Blackhawks slightly worse. Chicago has lost three straight games and seven of their past eight, including a 3-1 road loss against the Lightning on Saturday.

The Bruins, meanwhile, have dropped two of three after reeling off a 10-game winning streak with their most recent defeat coming against the Red Wings on Sunday.

The Bruins are a heavy -450 favorite with the Blackhawks sitting at +325 on the moneyline. The total is set at six goals, juiced -120 to the under.

Boston Bruins -2.5 Goals (+105)

Don’t even try to overthink this one — the Bruins are far and away the best team in the NHL and should handle the Blackhawks with complete ease.

When these sides met earlier this season in Boston, the Bruins secured a 6-1 victory over the Blackhawks and were dominant at even strength. Per naturalstattrick.com, Boston outscored Chicago 4-0 at 5v5 while creating 3.2 expected goals and conceding only 0.84 xG.

Additionally, the high danger chances battle was 13-3 in favor of Boston at even strength and 17-4 in all situations.

Now, Boston gets a shot to face a Blackhawks side that has dumped all valuable pieces at the trade deadline and likely won’t generate much against a stout Bruins defense.

Although they conceded five goals in their last game, that came with backup goaltender Jeremy Swayman in net for Boston.

Tuesday night, Chicago likely faces Vezina favorite Linus Ullmark, who owns a .938 save percentage this season and a 1.89 goals against average.

Additionally, if you look at the Bruins’ outputs against the league’s worst teams, there’s nary a blemish on the resume.

In 10 games against the bottom-three teams from each conference, Boston is a perfect 10-0 straight up and has won six of those games by at least three goals. Further, they’ve won by two in all but one of those games.

Their offense has also proved quite reliable in those games, generating 4.5 goals per game and scoring at least four times all but once.

On the flip side, Chicago has struggled against the league’s best teams.

Through 12 games against the current top-six in the NHL by total points, Chicago is 3-9 straight up. However, within those nine losses, they’ve lost by at least three goals on seven occasions and by at least two eight times.

Thus, take the Bruins to rediscover their outstanding form in a solid get-right spot. Back them on the puck-line at +100 or better.