Bruins Become Beasts of the East

In a division with classic teams that have been duking it out for dominance for years, the Boston Bruins appear to be up to their old, old tricks. The Bruins have surged into a red-hot race in the Atlantic, with the Montreal Canadiens and the Detroit Red Wings, and have become the hottest team in the East of late.

It has been a couple of seasons since we’ve seen the Bruins putting up points at such a torrid pace, and with a tad of tweaking they have as good a chance as anyone to emerge triumphant in the Eastern Conference.

High-Scoring Combos

The names are a bit different in this version of Boston on ice, but the formula is the same – scoring lots of goals and allowing few. They’ve put together a rotation of productive centers, with Landon Ferraro, who was picked up off waivers just a month ago, right in the thick of things. He’s picked up seven points in 13 games, and he, Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci and Ryan Spooner have combined for 35 points in the last 10 games.

Four assists for Ryan Spooner tonight.

— Amalie Benjamin (@AmalieBenjamin) December 19, 2015

In goal, Tuuka Rask has been solid as Plymouth Rock, rebounding from a sour start to go 8-0-2 with a 1.42 goals-against average since Nov. 21. He has three shutouts and a .953 save percentage in that span. It’s quite a turnaround from the 3.18 GAA and .890 save percentage in his opening 13 starts, five of which he surrendered five or more goals.

Betting Odds

It all has translated to an 11-1-3 record over the last month, scoring 46 goals (3.07 per) and allowing just 28 (1.87 per) in that time span. Once 13 points behind in the Atlantic Division, the Bears were 19-9-4 going into Tuesday’s matchup against St. Louis. They were a point ahead of Detroit and one behind the Habs.

Despite the recent surge, the Bruins are still listed as +800 in the futures betting odds to win the Eastern Conference playoffs, behind Montreal and Metro Division heavies, Washington and New York. A lot will have to happen for the Bruins to overcome that crew of teams. But I wouldn’t put it past them to end up in an Eastern finals against Washington. Then, anything could happen. Meanwhile, betting the Bruins in their current run, is solid investing.