Florida Panthers vs Boston Bruins Predictions

Boston's defense separates these teams

ABC News / The Associated Press reports that Boston is 7-2-1 over its past 10 games, averaging 3.7 goals while allowing 2.4 per game. Florida is 6-4-0 in the same span, scoring 3.6 and allowing 2.9 per game. That defensive gap makes the 12-4-1 Bruins the more likely winner at home against the 9-6-2 Panthers.

Florida will be without Aleksander Barkov, Brad Marchand and Jonah Gadjovich. Anton Lundell and Sandis Vilmanis are day-to-day. Those absences favor Boston, but the Panthers' recent scoring makes the Bruins' -1.5 puck line difficult to justify.

Boston is missing James Hagens, and Matthew Poitras is day-to-day. The Bruins still have David Pastrnak, who has eight goals and 14 assists, while Florida's Matthew Tkachuk has four goals and 21 assists. Boston is 11-0-0 when it scores at least three goals, giving the Bruins a clear path to victory if Pastrnak and the rest of the offense reach that mark.

SPF odds and prediction

SPF lists Boston at -135 and Florida at +114. Boston should be favored, but the price doesn't leave much room for Florida's ability to score or the unresolved day-to-day decisions. The Bruins are the predicted winner, but the moneyline is a pass.

The total is 6.5, with the under at -125 and the over at +105. No starting goalies are confirmed, so neither side of the total is supportable at the listed price.