It might be time to sound the alarm in Music City. The Nashville Predators have lost consecutive home games and are five points back of a wild-card berth ahead of Thursday's game against the first-place Boston Bruins. Here is sports betting analyst Neil Parker's top NHL pick for the showdown based on the best NHL odds.
I expect the Preds to be without leading-goal scorer Filip Forsberg (upper body) for Thursday's tilt. He exited Saturday's game against the Philadelphia Flyers, and head coach John Hynes labeled the winger day-to-day Wednesday.
It's a huge loss for Nashville.
Boston has surrendered the fewest goals per game (2.11), fewest five-on-five tallies per 60 minutes (1.75), and boast the No. 1 penalty-kill percentage (85.9) in the league.
You can probably read the writing on the wall, so all that's left is finding the best way to take advantage of the defensive advantage the Bruins have Thursday.
Here is our best Bruins vs. Predators NHL pick (odds via FanDuel Sportsbook; pick confidence based on a 1-to-5-star scale).
Check out our NHL best bets for Thursday.
Bruins vs. Predators pick
Predators winger Matt Duchene has spent just over half his five-on-five ice time this season skating opposite Forsberg, and Duchene has been much more successful sharing the ice with Forsberg than without.
Duchene and Forsberg have driven five-on-five possession with a 53.1 Corsi For percentage while generating 55.7% of the expected goals. When Duchene isn't playing with Forsberg, those metrics drop considerably to 47.3 and 41.8 marks.
Additionally, I'm expecting Boston to roll out possession wizard and five-time Selke Trophy winner Patrice Bergeron against Nashville's No. 1 line of Duchene, center Cody Glass, and winger Nino Niederreiter as much as possible.
D uchene is also overachieving of late with five tallies, three helpers and a 35.7 shooting percentage through his past six contests. I expect the puck luck to run out in a tough matchup against the Bruins on Thursday.
Check out our latest Stanley Cup odds.
Bruins vs. Predators best odds
| DraftKings | FanDuel | BetMGM | Caesars | PointsBet |
| Duchene Under 0.5 points | Duchene Under 0.5 points | Duchene Under 0.5 points | Duchene Under 0.5 points | Duchene Under 0.5 points |
| +105 | +112 ?? | +110 | N/A | +105 |
There isn't a huge advantage in the odds across our sportsbooks, but an edge is an edge, and we're landing a positive expected value of 3% placing this wager through FanDuel than the +105 number available through other shops.
For reference, Duchene is priced at -135 to register a point in a one-way market through Caesars.
Bruins vs. Predators odds
Check out our complete list of NHL odds!
Bruins vs. Predators odds analysis
DraftKings Sportsbook listed the Bruins as a -180 favorite on the moneyline with +130 odds on the -1.5 puck line Wednesday night. Nashville was sporting respective +155 and -150 odds.
There's been considerable movement leading into Thursday afternoon across most of our best sportsbooks. The best odds for the Bruins moneyline remain at DraftKings (-180), and you can find Boston +140 on the puck line at multiple shops.
DraftKings also has the best number available for Nashville +1.5 (-155), whereas PointsBet has the Predators listed at +160 odds on the moneyline.
The total is a consensus 5.5 with FanDuel offering the best odds on the Over at -114. The rest of our best sportsbooks all have the Over listed at -115, and the Under trading at -105.
Check out our Stanley Cup odds!
Bruins vs. Predators game info
- Date: Thursday, Feb. 16, 8 p.m. ET
- TV: NHLPP, ESPN+
- Location: Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, TN
Bruins-Predators pick made 2/16/2023 at 11:45 ET.
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