Boston Bruins DraftKings NHL Fantasy Hockey Preview: March 30 to April 4

The Boston Bruins continue to roll through the entire league after topping the Montreal Canadiens, Tampa Bay Lightning and Carolina Hurricanes last week. After going on a 10-game winning streak in the middle of February, Boston now finds itself on a 7-game winning streak with just under ten games left in the regular season. The Bruins still hold the best record in the league, 57-11-5, and are 16 points ahead of the next closest squad with 119 points and a +118 goal differential.

Boston started its week against Montreal and walked out with the 4-2 win led by new teammate Tyler Bertuzzi (1G, 1A) who has posted six points in 12 games with the Bruins since being traded. Jeremy Swayman (.935 save percentage) stood tall in net yet again, stopping 29-of-31 shots. Swayman has recorded eight wins and three shutouts across his last ten starts.

Just two days later, the Bruins topped the Bolts, 2-1. Linus Ullmark (.963 save percentage) got the start in net and stopped 26-of-27 shots, bringing his win total to 36 on the season.

The Bruins had to face the squad that has chased them all season, the Hurricanes, and topped them in a shootout, 4-3. David Pastrnak (2G) put the team on his back after netting his 50th and 51st goals of the season. Carolina posted a strong third period to tie the game at the end of regulation but both Jake DeBrusk and Charlie Coyle finished the game for Boston in the shootout.

Boston faces Nashville tonight, a squad that has lost two straight games and has a -9 goal differential across its last ten games. The last time these two teams faced, the Bruins dominated in a 5-0 rout.

Top Goal Scorer: David Pastrnak — 51 goals (Patrice Bergeron is second with 27 goals)

Top Point Getter: David Pastrnak — 97 points (Brad Marchand is second with 63 points)

Top Goaltender: Linus Ullmark — 36-5-1 record, 1.92 goals against on average (GAA), .937 save percentage

(All stats as of Mar. 28)

Bruins upcoming schedule for the week of March 30:

• Thursday, March 30 vs. Columbus Blue Jackets
• Saturday, April 1 @ Pittsburgh Penguins
• Sunday, April 2 @ St. Louis Blues

Bruins DraftKings Fantasy Preview for Upcoming Games

Injury Update: Patrice Bergeron (illness), Brad Marchand (undisclosed) and Hampus Lindholm (undisclosed) are all considered day-to-day.

Thursday, March 30 vs. Columbus Blue Jackets

• The Columbus Blue Jackets have a 23-42-7 record, are in last place in the Metropolitan Division and are last overall in the Eastern Conference with 53 points and a -89 goal differential.
• Columbus is one of the teams in the Connor Bedard Sweepstakes and its record and overall team play shows that. Columbus is 3-6-1 and has a -21 goal differential across its last ten games, including bad multiple-goal losses to teams like Montreal and Anaheim.
• This matchup is as good as it gets for Boston with Columbus allowing the second-most goals per game (3.9). Even if the Bruins opt to rest some key playmakers for the playoffs and goals aren’t as easy to come by, the Blue Jackets are tied for the third-fewest goals per game (2.7) and have the fourth-fewest total goals scored (195).
• Johnny Gaudreau (18G, 49A) leads the team in points while Boone Jenner (25G, 18A) leads the team in goals. On paper, Columbus’ roster looks full of talent but the goaltending and defense have hindered any possibility of success for the season. Elvis Merzlikins (7-18-2 record) has become the starter since Jonathan Quick was traded away and he has struggled mightily, allowing an average of 4.23 goals against. Veteran Michael Hutchinson (1-2-1 record) has become the backup but he’s also allowing over 4.0 GAA, so goals should be easy to come by.

Saturday, April 1 @ Pittsburgh Penguins

• The Pittsburgh Penguins have a 36-27-10 record, are in fifth place in the Metropolitan Division and are eighth overall in the Eastern Conference with 82 points and a -1 goal differential.
• Pittsburgh has struggled recently, dropping five of its last seven games but topped the Washington Capitals and Colorado Avalanche in its two wins during that span. Due to the Penguins’ roster full of talent and their ability to hang with the top teams, they get plenty of shots on net and are tied for the fourth-highest shots per game total (34.5). On top of that, they’ve registered 187 high-danger chances, good for the second-most in the league.
• Despite posting the ninth-best expected goal percentage in the league (53.13%), the Penguins still have a negative goal differential and have had mediocre goaltending for the most part. Tristan Jarry (21-10-6 record) and Casey DeSmith (14-15-4 record) have recorded 40 and 31 starts, respectively, but both goaltenders allow at least 2.98 GAA and barely eclipse .900 save percentages. Pittsburgh also allows the seventh-most shots against per game (33.2).

Sunday, April 2 @ St. Louis Blues

• The St. Louis Blues have a 33-34-6 record, are in sixth place in the Central Division and are thirteenth overall in the Western Conference with 72 points and a -32 goal differential.
• St. Louis has won six of its last ten games, averaging 4.3 goals per game and posting a +9 goal differential. Despite the losing streaks since the new year, the Blues still average 3.2 goals per game on an average of only 28.5 shots per game, good for the fourth-lowest total in the league. However, they do post the sixth-lowest expected goal percentage (44.87%).
• The Blues have four skaters with at least 57 points on the season with both Jordan Kyrou (33G, 35A) and Pavel Buchnevich (24G, 40A) leading the way. St. Louis shows promise in some areas but has struggled on special teams, posting the eighth-worst penalty kill unit in the league (75.1%) while only being successful on 20.3% of its power play opportunities this season. Even with the seventh-fewest penalty minutes in the league (572), opponents have feasted on the man advantage.
• The issues continue all the way back to the defense and goaltending, too, with Jordan Binnington (23-25-5 record) recording 53 starts but allowing 3.38 GAA and a dismal .892 save percentage. The Blues don’t have much to work with in terms of goaltending either so the Bruins could very well have a pad-the-stat night if Binnington is in net. To make things worse defensively, the Blues have allowed the tenth-most high-danger chances (154) and only generate takeaways 44.94% of the time, good for the third-lowest percentage in the league.

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