The NHL is providing us with a 15-game slate on Saturday, March 11, and this divisional tilt will open the action, so make sure you get the best Red Wings vs. Bruins betting pick and odds.

Detroit and Boston will play the first game of a back-to-back set when they meet at TD Garden. The Bruins are firm -370 moneyline favorites on Bovada Sportsbook, while the total is set at 6.5 goals. These Atlantic Division foes will face for the second time this season; the Bruins won 5-1 in Boston.

Red Wings snapped a losing skid

The Detroit Red Wings (29-26-6-3, 30-34 ATS) went through their worst period of the season during which they suffered six consecutive losses. However, the Red Wings managed to avoid the seventh in a row with a 4-3 home victory over the Chicago Blackhawks. Detroit is currently in 13th place in the Eastern Conference with 67 points, seven below the playoff picture.

It didn’t start well for the Red Wings against the Blackhawks. Chicago got to a 2-0 lead in the opening period and Dylan Larkin missed a penalty for the hosts, but he did find the back of the net with a power-play goal to tie the score, while Detroit scored two more in the second half of the final period to get a W. This season, Larkin is the only Red Wing among the top 100 players in the NHL when it comes to points with 60 (G 24, A 36).

Magnus Hellberg (4-6-1) is expected to star at the goal against the Bruins on Saturday. The 31-year-old is allowing 3.01 goals per game with a .899 SV% and no shutouts.

D Mark Pysyk (Achilles) and RW Michael Rasmussen (lower body) are out indefinitely, while LW Robby Fabbri (lower body) is questionable to face Boston on Saturday.

Bruins’ fantastic streak came to an end

The Boston Bruins (49-9-2-3, 39-24 ATS), unlike Detroit, went through their best sequence of the campaign as they won ten games in a row, but couldn’t make it 11 straight. The Bruins opened their four-game home stand with wins against the Sabres and Rangers but fell short of the Edmonton Oilers in a 3-2 defeat. Still, Boston is the best team in the NHL this season with 103 points, nine more than Carolina in the Eastern Conference.

Uncharacteristically for the Bruins, they dropped a 2-0 lead they built in the first period through Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak. The Oilers scored three unanswered goals since and celebrated a 3-2 victory. Pastrnak is among the top 5 players in the league with 86 points (G 45, A 41), followed by Marchand with 55 (G 20, A 35) and David Krejci with 51 points (G 13, A 38).

Linus Ullmark will likely take his place between the sticks against Detroit on Saturday. The 29-year-old is conceding 1.89 goals per contest this season with a .938 SV% and two shutouts.

LW Nick Foligno (lower body), LW Taylor Hall (lower body), C Tomas Nosek (foot), and RW Vinni Lettieri (lower body) are out indefinitely and will not play in Boston on Saturday.

Trends:

Detroit:

  • 1-6 in the last seven overall
  • 0-5 in the last five vs. Eastern Conference rivals
  • 7-20 in the last 27 Saturday games

Boston:

  • 43-10 in the last 53 vs. a team with a losing record
  • 40-11 in the last 51 home games

Detroit Red Wings vs. Boston Bruins Pick

The Bruins have the best defense and the second-best offense in the NHL, and the Red Wings cannot match them in any segment of the game. Boston is scoring 3.75 goals per game opposite Detroit’s 2.97 goals per contest, while the Bruins allow 2.10 gpg opposite the Red Wings’ 3.25 gpg. With fantastic Linus Ullmark in the cage, I seriously doubt the Bruins will concede more than a goal or two here, which would be insufficient for the Red Wings to avoid a big defeat. I am backing the Bruins to return to winning ways on Saturday.

Pick: Take the Bruins at -1.5 Puck Line (-125)

The Total

Linus Ullmark is the best goaltender in the NHL this season; he leads the league in goals allowed per game and saves percentage. He allowed more than two goals only twice in his previous nine starts, and I don’t think he will let more than two this time around. Boston has been playing very well offensively of late and I have no doubt the Bruins will score at least four goals on Saturday, but I don’t believe in Detroit. Still, I expect a high-scoring affair. Over is 3-1-1 in the last five H2H meetings and Over is 10-4-2 in the previous 16 H2H duels in Boston.

Pick: Go Over 6.5 goals (-110)