Devils vs. Bruins Odds
| Devils Odds | +150 |
| Bruins Odds | -182 |
| Over / Under | 6.5 +100o / -122u |
As we often see on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, there's a busy slate of NHL action scheduled from morning through night on Monday. At 1 p.m. ET, the Boston Bruins will return home from a four-game road trip to host the New Jersey Devils.
The Bruins remain the class of the Eastern Conference with 59 points in 42 games. They join the Vancouver Canucks and Winnipeg Jets as the only teams with a points percentage over .700 at the midway mark of the 2023-24 season. The Devils sit 12 points back in the standings after snapping the Panthers' nine-game winning streak Saturday.
Monday's game will complete the season series between these two sides. The home team prevailed in both December matchups, with an overtime goal by Jack Hughes giving the Devils the win at the Prudential Center before the Bruins posted a 5-2 victory at TD Garden on Dec. 30.
Let's dive into a New Jersey Devils vs. Boston Bruins preview and prediction, and explain why bettors should give consideration to the road underdog in Monday's matchup.
New Jersey Devils
While the Devils have endured more than their fair share of challenges this season, they haven't fallen out of the mix for an Eastern Conference playoff spot. Up front, Hughes, Timo Meier, Ondřej Palát and Tomáš Nosek are all sidelined, and on the back end, Jonas Siegenthaler recently joined Dougie Hamilton on the injured list.
But the Devils snapped a two-game losing streak Saturday by handing the Panthers their first loss in more than three weeks. That improved their road record to 13-6-1 and moved them to 6-3-1 in their last 10 games.
Since returning from injury just after Christmas, Nico Daws has been providing the steady goaltending the team has been looking for all season. He's now up to a 3-1-0 record with a .917 save percentage and 0.4 goals saved above expected. So far, he has been alternating starts with Vitek Vanecek, who is 1-1-1 since Daws' return.
Even with all their injuries, the Devils are getting back to their identity as a strong puck possession team. They rank sixth in the NHL by controlling 53.35% of expected goals, and while their power play still ranks fourth in the league, it hasn't connected in the last four games.
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Boston Bruins
The Bruins are opening a five-game home stand Monday after a challenging four-game trip out west, where they didn't play their best hockey.
But this group is excellent on home ice at 12-3-3. And with a 2-0-3 record in the last five games, Boston has picked up enough points along the way to maintain its hold on first place in the East.
The Bruins' biggest strength remains their defensive game, allowing just 2.69 goals per game. The penalty kill is also typically excellent, although like New Jersey's power play it's going through a rough patch, with five goals allowed while shorthanded in the last four games.
The Bruins' injured list isn't as overwhelming as the Devils, but some key players have been sidelined. Goalie Linus Ullmark and forwards Pavel Zacha and Matt Poitras didn't play in St. Louis on Saturday and are all listed as day-to-day as of Sunday afternoon.
Jeremy Swayman has held down the fort since Ullmark was injured during overtime of Boston's 4-3 loss in Arizona last Tuesday. Just voted into the All-Star Game, Swayman is 12-3-7 for the year, with 10 goals saved above expected.
Devils vs. Bruins
Betting Pick & Prediction
It's not surprising the Bruins opened as strong favorites on the moneyline for this matchup at -192. But by Sunday afternoon, that number had slipped to as low as -175 at some shops, effectively dropping Boston's odds of winning by a couple of percentage points.
While the Devils are certainly banged up, that's nothing new for this team this season, and their win in Florida on Saturday is an encouraging indicator that they can match up effectively against any squad. They'll also be better rested, having played just two games in the last week, while Boston was traveling across the country.
The Devils could be poised to deliver an upset to a Boston team that isn't firing on all cylinders right now. The value in this game lies with the road underdog.
Pick: Devils Moneyline (+150 at BetMGM; Play to +135)
