Picks: Bruins to capitalize vs. depleted Pens
Welcome to NHL Picks where CBSSports.com hockey writers Chris Peters and Adam Gretz offer their predictions for all of the day’s games.
Pittsburgh Penguins at Boston Bruins, 8 p.m. ET, NBCSN
In just his second game behind the Pittsburgh Penguins bench, new head coach Mike Sullivan will get a crack at the first team that gave him a shot as a head coach in the NHL. Sullivan was the Boston Bruins’ head coach for two seasons, 2003-04 and 2005-06, with the NHL lockout in between. Wednesday night’s game will also be a homecoming of sorts for the Marshfield, Massachusetts native. But it may not be a pleasant one.
The Bruins have been one of the better teams in the NHL over the last few weeks. They’re 8-1-3 in their last 12 games and currently rank second in the NHL with an average of 3.17 goals for per game. That offensive attack may be licking their chops a bit when they see the depleted Penguins lineup on the other side of the ice.
Pittsburgh starter Marc-Andre Fleury, who has been the team’s saving grace this season, won’t be in the lineup after being diagnosed with a concussion. He is supposed to be out for one to two weeks. The club is also expected to be without No. 1 defenseman Kris Letang as he was placed on injured reserve Tuesday. You can also add depth forward Beau Bennett to that mix, as he will be out four to six weeks as his truly awful injury luck continues.
The Bruins have a few injuries of their own, but nothing close to what Pittsburgh is dealing with currently.
Wednesday night’s matchup will be the first of two games in three days between these two clubs. The Bruins will head over to Pittsburgh Friday night to complete the home-and-home series. Perhaps there will be a little tone setting in this one, but the Penguins have to focus simply on getting back on track.
Sullivan has already shuffled the lines around at least in practice and could give the Penguins a different look, but with Letang out it’s going to be challenging. The team is going to have lean more heavily on new acquisition Trevor Daley. He was acquired earlier in the week in a trade from the Blackhawks and brings the puck-moving element the Pens needed more of on their back end. It should also be a pretty busy night for Olli Maatta.
The Bruins’ have been getting some impressive production this year out of their top six forwards. Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci each have 29 points. Brad Marchand is having his best goal-scoring season to date with 15, while Loui Eriksson has been resurgent this year with 11 goals and 14 assists. Defensively there are some concerns, but after losing so much scoring from last year’s roster, the Bruins haven’t missed a beat in putting pressure on teams with their offensive attack.
Given the injuries the Penguins are dealing with, the fact they’ve been nothing more than average away from home (7-6-1), and since the Bruins will have their full complement of star players at their disposal, Boston appears to have the decided edge in this one. Pick: Bruins 4, Penguins 2
Wednesday’s other pick
Washington Capitals 4, Ottawa Senators 3
The Penguins could have a hard time slowing the Bruins’ offensive attack. (USATSI)
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