Blue Jackets vs. Bruins Prediction
The Columbus Blue Jackets stunned the NHL world with their sweep in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals. Can Columbus continue its surge tonight in Game 1 of the semifinals at the Boston Bruins?
Game Snapshot
3 Columbus Blue Jackets at 4 Boston Bruins
Thursday, April 25, 2019
TD Garden at 7:08PM ET
TV: NBCSN
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Public Betting Information
According to oddsmakers, the Bruins are a -145 favorite to win on the moneyline. The Blue Jackets are a +125 underdog, while the over-under is set at 5.5 goals. As of Thursday morning, 56 percent of public bets are siding with host Boston. Check out our NHL Public Betting Page for the latest information.
Blue Jackets steamroll Lightning
Columbus won four straight games in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals over regular season NHL-best Tampa Bay, finishing it off nine days ago with a 7-3 home victory. The Blue Jackets scored two first-period goals, beginning with a Alexandre Texier power play tally 2:26 in off assists from Seth Jones and Pierre-Luc Dubois. Just over a minute later, Dubois made it 2-0 on assists by Oliver Bjorkstrand and Adam Clendening. Tampa Bay trimmed it back to 2-1 by the period’s end, but with 13:32 left in the second period Jones pushed the advantage back to two goals on a score assisted by Cam Atkinson and Matt Duchene. The Lightning fought back to tie it at 3-3 over the next 11 minutes, but with 1:14 remaining in the second a Bjorkstrand goal with assists courtesy of Scott Harrington and Dubois gave Columbus the lead again. The Blue Jackets scored three goals in the final two minutes to put it away, beginning with an unassisted Artemi Panarin strike. Texier followed with his second goal of the contest 19 seconds later off assists from Zach Werenski and Nick Foligno. Duchene completed the scoring with nine seconds to play with a goal assisted by David Savard and Harrington. Sergei Bobrovksy earned the victory between the pipes as he stopped 30 out of 33 shots.
Bruins roll in Game 7
Boston won Game 7 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals over Toronto on its home ice by a count of 5-1 Tuesday night to advance to the semifinals. Joakim Nordstrom opened the scoring with 5:31 left in the first period off assists from Matt Grzelcyk and Sean Kuraly. Marcus Johansson added an unassisted goal later in the first to make it 2-0 through 20 minutes. The Maple Leafs scored their lone goal in the second period and it stayed at 2-1 entering the third period. The Bruins scored three times to put it away in the third, beginning with a Kuraly goal at the 17:20 mark off assists from Noel Acciari and Nordstrom. Charlie Coyle made it 4-1 with 2:34 left to play off a David Krejci assist. Patrice Bergeron completed the scoring with only one second left on an unassisted goal. Tuukka Rask registered 32 saves on 33 shots in the winning effort.
NHL Betting Trends
Columbus
The Blue Jackets are 5-0 in their last five games as an underdog. Columbus is 7-0 in its last seven road games.
Boston
The Bruins are 7-3 in the last 10 home meetings. Boston is 17-6 in its last 23 games as a favorite.
Prediction:
The Blue Jackets come into this series with all sorts of swagger, but I have to believe the long layoff between games will hurt them. Boston should be sharper having played two days ago and while it was a grueling seven-game series, the fact Game 7 wasn’t a nail-biter should help the fatigue factor heading into tonight. Rask looks to be on top of his game right now and I think the Bruins will put together enough offense in front of him to win Game 1.
NHL DAILY PREDICTION: BOSTON BRUINS -145