NHL Highs and Lows: No Stopping Bruins

Not even the loss of first-line winger Jake DeBrusk has slowed down the mighty Boston Bruins, who are 12 points ahead of their closest competitor in the race for the Presidents’ Trophy.

Boston has allowed the fewest goals in the NHL and is one behind Edmonton for the most goals scored.

The Seattle Kraken and New Jersey Devils continue to be the most surprising teams in the NHL. On the other end of the NHL spectrum, the worst-kept secret in the league was finally revealed when Bruce Boudreau was fired by the Vancouver Canucks and replaced by Rick Tocchet.

Boston continues to lead the NHL in wins and points, and the NHL playoff odds now have the Bruins (+550) as the favorites in the Stanley Cup odds.

Here’s a look at the NHL’s top- and bottom-five current teams. Let’s check the latest NHL news, stats, injury reports, and NHL lines for NHL Highs & Lows. We’ve got plenty of NHL picks for you to consider.

Top Five

1. Boston Bruins

Those waiting for the Bruins to come back the pack could have a long wait.

The Bruins continue to add to their NHL-leading point total as they are 9-1 in January and have outscored their opponents 39-14 over that stretch.

David Pastrnak leads the NHL with 11 goals in January while the Bruins have eight goals from defensemen over the last 10 games. Jeremy Swayman leads the NHL with a .967 save percentage and 0.99 goals-against average in January. Linus Ullmark is fifth in GAA (1.53) and eighth in save percentage (.940).

The Bruins lead the NHL with 78 points, 37 wins and 32 regulation wins. They also lead the way with a goals-against average of 2.02.

The Bruins are 30-16 against the Las Vegas odds, the best mark in the league.

2. Seattle Kraken

Seattle continues to impress in its second NHL season. The Kraken is 9-2-1 over the last 12 games and have picked up 11 points in the standings on the Vegas Golden Knights. They only trail Vegas by a point in the Pacific Division race.

Goalie Martin Jones is 8-1 with a 2.33 goals-against average in January, and the Kraken’s +20 goal differential in January is second only to the Boston Bruins. One of the nine wins in the month was a 4-0 victory in Boston as the Kraken handed the Bruins their only regulation loss of at home.

Defenseman Vince Dunn has led the charge for Seattle as he leads the Kraken with 10 assists, 15 points, and a +18 defensive rating in January.

3. New Jersey Devils

Home teams beware, this is not the team you want to see coming to town.

The Devils are 7-0-1 in the last seven away games to improve to 18-2-2 on the road.

New Jersey has outscored the opposition 88-53 on the road. Jack Hughes leads the way as his 16 goals on the road are tied for third in the league. Goalie Vitek Vancek is 11-1-1 with a 2.43 goals-against average in road contests.

4. Winnipeg Jets

The Jets have had an interesting month so far.

Winnipeg has outscored its opponents 34-16 in the eight wins but has been outscored 15-7 in losses to Detroit, Montreal, and Toronto.

The Jets are just two points behind Dallas in the Central Division standings and a 7-0-1 record in overtime games has played a key role in the strong first half for Winnipeg.

Connor Hellebuyck is in the top three in the NHL in wins, saves, and save percentage. Kyle Connor is playing some of his best hockey of the season in recent games with eight goals and six assists over the last 11 games.

Winnipeg thrives in low-scoring games as an NHL-low 14 games have gone under the NHL odds total.

5. Edmonton Oilers

Look out, the Oilers are starting to get some solid goaltending.

With Connor McDavid running away with the NHL scoring title and on pace for 68 goals and 150 points and Leon Draisaitl second in the league with 73 points, the offense is never a question with the Oilers.

Jack Campbell is 6-1 with a 2.15 goals-against average over his last eight games as Edmonton is only three points out of the Pacific Division lead and currently hold down the top wild-card spot in the Western Conference.

It is not surprising that 28 of the Oilers’ games have gone over the NHL betting lines total and this ranks third in the NHL.

Bottom Five

28. New York Islanders

With the other teams on the Bottom Five were expected to struggle, the same can’t be said for the Islanders.

They are 2-6-3 over the last 11 games and have been outscored 35-22 during that stretch. The penalty killing has been pretty solid, but the power play has some issues.

The Islanders are just three points out of the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference so all hope is not lost with the Islanders. However, being held to two goals or less in nine of the last 12 games is pretty troubling.

29. Anaheim Ducks

Anaheim has the worst goal differential in the NHL, and only the struggles of the Columbus Blue Jackets have prevented the Ducks from having the fewest points in the league.

Anaheim is 3-6-1 over the last 10 games and that is actually an improvement in the points percentage pace this season.

Trevor Zegras leads the Ducks with seven goals and 13 points over the last 10 games. However, his -10 defensive rating speaks volumes about the defensive issues with the Ducks.

The Ducks are now just 17-24 against the NHL betting lines.

• Championship odds: +100000

30. Columbus Blue Jackets

Columbus is very much in the running for the Connor Bedard sweepstakes with a 3-8 record over the last 11 games.

The power play has been rather anemic with three goals in the last 26 chances. Making matters worse is that the Blue Jackets have surrendered two short-handed goals during that stretch. It must be tempting to decline power plays moving forward.

Columbus currently has the fewest points in the NHL with a 14-30-2 record and that includes a 3-15-1 mark on the road.

• Championship odds: +100000

31. Arizona Coyotes

Arizona has dropped 10 of its last 12 games and a lack of offense has been a main culprit.

The Coyotes have 20 goals in those 12 contests and one can only shudder at how things might look if not for Clayton Keller, who has five of those goals. Arizona is converting on just 8% of its power-play opportunities over the last 12 games.

Arizona has been a solid team for those who bet online with a 25-22 mark against the spread.

• Championship odds: +100000

32. Vancouver Canucks

Vancouver earns the No. 32 spot not just based on a 2-8 record in January, but also for the circus-type atmosphere created with the decision to hire Tocchet as the head coach before firing Boudreau. Tocchet had to give four weeks’ notice if he left his broadcasting gig to take an NHL head coaching job.

Vancouver is tied for the worst goals-against average in the NHL in January and there are rumblings of some star players being traded as the Canucks figure to be in full rebuild mode.