The Boston Bruins head west to face the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday night.
The pregame narrative: These two teams are scoring a lot right now, so I’m backing one red-hot player from each side.
Check out my Bruins vs. Oilers prop picks for Dec. 19.
Bruins vs. Oilers prop picks
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Best bet: Brad Marchand to score 1+ points (-139)
Boston started the season at a snail’s pace on offence, but things are turning around.
The Bruins are 6-2 over their last eight games and are scoring 3.5 goals per game over that span. That’s almost a full goal over their season average (2.6).
As for Marchand? He’s been cooking.
- 1+ points in seven straight games
- 13 points over his last 13 games
Marchand hasn’t been a point-per-game player over the last two seasons, but he can still fill the score sheet.
Since the beginning of the 2022-2023 season, Marchand has 159 points in 188 games.
He’s no longer a top point producer in the NHL, but it’s still worth getting behind the veteran at this price during his point streak.
Key stat: Marchand is 6-2 against this line over his past eight games against the Oilers.
Quick picks
Leon Drasaitl to score 1+ goal (+110): Edmonton’s top point producer is on fire right now.
Drasaitl leads the NHL in goals (23) and has done most of his damage over the last 14 games. In that timeframe, the centre has 11 tallies.
And he’s been consistent, finding the net in 10 of those 14 games. That includes scoring in four straight heading into Thursday.
It’s not like Boston is an intimidating defensive team. The Bruins allow the 11th-most goals per game (3.2) and have a below-average penalty kill (77.5%).
Considering the Bruins average the second-most penalty minutes per game (10.9), there could be ample opportunities for Edmonton’s top dogs on the power play.
Drasaitl has five PP goals and currently boasts the fifth-highest shooting percentage (25.6%) in the league.
Picks made at 9:19 a.m. ET on 12/19/2024.
Spencer is a true sports junkie. A graduate of the Sports Journalism program at Centennial College, he first joined NorthStar Gaming as an intern in 2023. He is now a contributing writer. He loves finding the edge to bet on in all sports but has a deep passion for the NBA and UFC. Previous stops include Sportsnet.