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The Bruins’ previous week of play saw them play three games, hosting the Lightning, Avalanche and Golden Knights, all at home. The Bruins recorded a 2-0-1 record for the week, losing only to the Golden Knights, who ended the Bruins’ 14-game home win streak, which now stands as the NHL record for most home wins in a row by a team to start the season.
Boston started their week with a 3-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning. Considering the Lightning were coming into this game having won seven of their last eight games — and were looking for revenge after the Bruins beat them 5-3 in Tampa the week prior — this was a solid win by Boston. The Bruins were carried by the goaltending of Jeremy Swayman, who stopped 27 of the 28 shots he faced. Swayman was filling in for Linus Ullmark, who suffered a UBI in the game prior. The Bruins fired just 25 shots at Andrei Vasilevskiy, but it was enough. They got two goals from Taylor Hall, who had gone pointless in the two games prior.
The second game of the week came against another tough opponent in the Avalanche. The Bruins mopped the floor with the defending Stanley Cup Champions in this one, landing a 5-1 win in what could be considered somewhat of a statement game for Boston. The Bruins did catch Colorado at a fortuitous time as they have numerous key players out with injuries at the moment, but the Avalanche have also struggled to get competent goaltending at times this season. The Bruins peppered starter Pavel Francouz with 40 shots and received two-goal efforts from both David Pastrňák and bottom-six forward Trent Frederic. It was Frederic’s first two-goal game of his career.
The final game of the week was by far the most intriguing as it involved the Vegas Golden Knights coming to town, a team that is now coached by former Bruins bench boss Bruce Cassidy. The Golden Knights are every bit as complete a team as Boston and came into this game as the top team in the Western Conference, making this a matchup between the two conference leaders in terms of overall points. Vegas jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the game, but Boston stormed back and ultimately tied the game on a nice wraparound goal by Taylor Hall. Unfortunately for the Bruins, Vegas ultimately prevailed in a shootout and ended their historic home winning streak. The Bruins still grabbed a point though and got solid play in net again from Jeremy Swayman, who kept them in the game after a rough start.
After three home games this week, Boston will now head out on the road and play three road games, two of which will be against opponents they faced last week.
Top Goal Scorer (Season): David Pastrňák, 16 goals (Patrice Bergeron is second with 9 goals)
Top Point Getter (Season): David Pastrňák, 34 pts (Patrice Bergeron is second with 20 pts)
Top Goalie (Season): Linus Ullmark - 14-1 (1 SO), 1.93 GAA and .936 save%
Bruins upcoming schedule for the week of December 6:
- Wednesday, December 7 at Colorado Avalanche
- Friday, December 9 at Arizona Coyotes
- Sunday, December 11 at Vegas Golden Knights
Bruins DraftKings Fantasy Preview for Upcoming Games
Injury update: Derek Forbort (IR)
Wednesday, December 7 at Colorado Avalanche
The Avalanche are 13-9-1 on the season and carry a +12 goal differential.
- These two teams met last week with the Bruins pouring in five goals against Pavel Francouz.
- The Avalanche have the top-ranked power play in the league heading into this week, a unit that is operating at a 31.4% clip; their penalty-kill is ninth-worst though and is allowing goals on 25.4% of all power plays.
- Colorado has allowed more shots this season (eighth-most per game) and has allowed an average of 5.0 goals over their last four games.
- With numerous injuries affecting the Avalanche lineup and their goaltenders both going through rough patches, this will be a solid spot for the Bruins’ top skill players in fantasy.
Friday, December 9 at Arizona Coyotes
The Coyotes are 7-12-4 on the season and carry a -20 goal differential.
- The Coyotes remain a below-average defensive team, ranking eighth-worst in shots against per game and 11th-worst in goals against per game at 3.4.
- They’ve received solid goaltending again from Karel Vejmelka, who enters this game with a .912 save % on the season.
- Five on five, there is no comparison between these two teams as the Bruins rank fourth overall in xGF% (Expected Goal For Percentage) while the Coyotes rank last in that same stat.
- The Bruins’ elite forwards should have no issues creating chances, and with the Coyotes barely creating any of their own, a multiple-goal win for Boston seems like the most likely scenario.
Sunday, December 11 at Vegas Golden Knights
The Golden Knights are 19-7-1 on the season and carry a +23 goal differential.
- The Bruins will again face off against the Golden Knights in the last game of the week, but this time they will be playing in Vegas where the Golden Knights have just a 7-5 record.
- Vegas has been far better on the road this season, so this will be a good opportunity for the Bruins to grab some quick revenge.
- Expect to see Linus Ullmark start in this game. Ullmark has been the Bruins’ clear No. 1 netminder this season but was limited in his play last week due to an injury suffered against Carolina a few games ago.
- Vegas allows the fifth-fewest goals per game but does have a poor penalty kill (eighth-worst in the league). Targeting some of the Bruins’ power-play specialists like David Krejci (eight power-play points in 21 games) or Charlie McAvoy on the blueline may be a good strategy for fantasy purposes in this game.
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I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is wavegoodbye) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necess-arily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and do not constitute a representation that any particular strategy will guarantee success. All customers should use their own skill and judgment in building lineups. I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.