The Boston Bruins (10-1-2) come off a two-game sweep of the New York Rangers and relocate to Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum Saturday to play the New York Islanders (5-4-3). Puck drop will be at 7 p.m. ET. Below, we analyze the Bruins-Islanders NHL odds and lines, with picks and predictions.
The Bruins dropped the Rangers 3-2 in overtime Wednesday and then by a 1-0 score Friday in the first half of this back-to-back. The Islanders suffered a 4-3 shootout loss against the Pittsburgh Penguins Thursday and were off Friday.
Bruins at Islanders: Odds, spread and lines
Odds via BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated at 9:55 a.m. ET.
- Money line: Bruins -130 (bet $130 to win $100) | Islanders +110 (bet $100 to win $110)
- Against the spread/ATS: Bruins -1.5 (+220) | Islanders +1.5 (-275)
- Over/Under: 5.5 (O: +110 | U: -135)
Bruins at Islanders: Projected starting goalies
Tuukka Rask (6-1-1, .906 SV%, 2.31 GAA) vs. Semyon Varlamov (5-2-2, .929 SV%, 1.98 GAA)
Rask is coming off his best outing of the season with 33 saves on 35 shots in Wednesday’s win over the Rangers. He has backstopped the Bruins to three straight wins and has gotten them at least one point in all but one of his eight starts.
Varlamov’s numbers through nine games are strongly buoyed by his back-to-back shutouts to open the season, but he turned in his third clean sheet Monday by stopping all 30 shots he faced from the Rangers. He blanked the Bruins earlier this season by stopping all 27 shots he faced.
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Bruins at Islanders: Odds, lines, predictions and picks
Prediction
Islanders 2, Bruins 1
Money line (ML)
The ISLANDERS (+110) can be backed for what would be a slight upset on home ice. The Bruins are 1-4 straight up in their last five games when playing on no rest.
Boston dominated possession in its first meeting with the Islanders this season, posting a 5-on-5 Corsi For rating of 63.77% and registering 56.25% of the scoring chances at full strength. New York had more high-danger shot attempts.
The Bruins were able to rest Rask Friday by turning to backup Jaroslav Halak for Game 2 against the Rangers, but Varlamov has stymied Boston once already this season and returned to top form earlier this week before taking a 4-3 shootout loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins Thursday.
Side with the rested home time.
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Against the spread (ATS)
Stick with the upset win for the Islanders, and PASS on the expensive puck line play.
At -275 odds, a $10 bet on the Isles to lose by just a single goal would return a profit of just $3.64.
Over/Under (O/U)
Stick with the UNDER 5.5 (-135) in what’s expected to be another goalie battle.
The last seven head-to-head clashes have gone 0-6-1 against the projected total, and Boston enters Saturday on a run of three consecutive Unders.
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