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We have a cross-country matchup Thursday night on ESPN, as the Bruins travel to Sin City to take on the Golden Knights. This will be the teams’ second meeting this season, with Vegas winning 4-1 in Boston on Dec. 14.
The Bruins continue their six-game road trip following Tuesday’s 4-3 loss at Anaheim. It was a rare high-scoring game for the Bruins, who have seen the total stay Under 5.5 goals in seven of their past 10 road games.
The primary reason for these low-scoring contests has been the stellar play of projected starting goaltender Jeremy Swayman. He has allowed two or fewer goals in six consecutive games, posting an immaculate 0.971 save percentage during that stretch. He now ranks seventh among starting goaltenders in 5-on-5 goals saved above expected per 60 minutes.
This season, the Bruins rank first in the league in 5-on-5 expected goals against per 60 minutes and first in average xG value of opposing five-on-five shot attempts. Teams are averaging just 29.2 shots on goal when facing the Bruins this season, the sixth-lowest number in the league.
Since the injury to star winger Mark Stone, the Golden Knights’ offense has taken a massive dip, averaging a mere 1.86 goals scored per outing in seven games without him.
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Robin Lehner is Thursday’s projected starter for the Golden Knights. Lehner looked sharp despite the light workload in his return from injury against San Jose on Tuesday, stopping 16 of 17 shots.
With two strong goaltenders, I like that trend to continue in this matchup.
The play: Bruins-Golden Knights, Under 5.5 goals (+100), play up to -115.
