3 BRUINS at 4 HURRICANES
Take: HURRICANES
No early line on this NHL game between Boston and Carolina, but it’s likely to be closely lined. My play is on Carolina, but there’s a goalie requirement that needs to be fulfilled before I make the wager.
Tuukka Rask pitched the shutout for the Bruins on Saturday evening as Boston got the 4-0 win at Florida. Rask has only played two games in two nights once all season, so with this game being less than 24 hours off the Saturday matchup and with travel involved, I’m assuming there’s a good chance Anton Khudobin gets the start today for the Bruins.
Cam Ward is already confirmed for the Hurricanes, and he’s been adequate for the most part. Khudobin has been mostly lousy in his sporadic outings for the Bruins. He’s earned just one win in seven starts this season, and that makes him potential go against material anytime he gets the call.
The Bruins have also struggled badly when playing with no rest this season. They’ve garnered just one win in six such situations. Carolina is off a tough loss to the Blackhawks, but the ‘Canes have been a good home team this year and they should be the fresher team today as well.
I like the Hurricanes to win this game, but the play is contingent on Bruins goalie Rask getting a seat on the sidelines. I’ll update on Twitter (@davecokin) once the goalies are confirmed.