Boston Bruins DraftKings NHL Fantasy Hockey Preview: April 6 to April 13

The 2022-23 NHL regular season is coming to an end with just five games remaining for the Boston Bruins. Boston became the fourth team in NHL history to reach 60 wins in a single season after topping the Columbus Blue Jackets, Pittsburgh Penguins and St. Louis Blues last week. Before this week, the Bruins were on a 7-game winning streak but fell to the Nashville Predators on Mar. 28, 2-1. Despite the loss, they’ve won 10 of their last 11 games and sit 18 points ahead of the next closest squad with 125 points and a 60-12-5 record.

Boston struggled against Columbus but still won 2-1 in overtime on Mar. 30 — and topped both Pittsburgh and St. Louis, 4-3, in a back-to-back set over the weekend. The Bruins have rested players periodically over the last few weeks but have still managed to handle teams well, thanks to David Pastrnak, who netted a hat-trick against the Penguins and totaled four goals and an assist during this 3-game stretch. Vezina Trophy candidate Linus Ullmark stood tall in net against both the Blue Jackets and Blues, allowing just four goals on 60 total shots.

Top Goal Scorer: David Pastrnak — 56 goals (Patrice Bergeron is second with 27 goals)

Top Point Getter: David Pastrnak — 103 points (Brad Marchand is second with 63 points)

Top Goaltender: Linus Ullmark — 38-6-1 record, 1.90 goals against on average (GAA), .937 save percentage

(All stats as of Apr. 4)

Bruins upcoming schedule for the week of April 6:

• Thursday, April 6 vs. Toronto Maple Leafs
• Saturday, April 8 vs. New Jersey Devils
• Sunday, April 9 @ Philadelphia Flyers
• Tuesday, April 11 vs. Washington Capitals
• Thursday, April 13 @ Montreal Canadiens

Bruins DraftKings Fantasy Preview for Upcoming Games

Injury Update: Patrice Bergeron (upper body) and David Krejci (lower body) are listed as day-to-day, as of Apr. 2.

Thursday, April 6 vs. Toronto Maple Leafs

• The Toronto Maple Leafs have a 45-21-10 record, are in second place in the Atlantic Division and are fifth overall in the Eastern Conference with 100 points and a +47 goal differential.
• These two teams have met three times this season with the Bruins holding a 2-1 record in the season series and scoring an average of 4.5 goals across the last two games. Toronto has struggled to stack wins recently and is just 5-3-2 across its last ten games compared to Boston’s impressive 9-1-0 record.
• Across the last ten games, the Maple Leafs have scored an average of 3.1 goals per game and are already tied for the fifth-highest average in the league (3.4), but have struggled to put opponents away. Despite averaging more shots on net than their season average during this stretch (30.1), the Maple Leafs have allowed over 30.0 shots against and have been more careless with the puck, committing a giveaway in their defensive zone 64.98% of the time.
• Toronto comes into this game with the third-best power play unit in the league, scoring at a 25.2% rate this season, mainly because of the excellence of Auston Matthews (37G, 42A), Mitchell Marner (28G, 67A) and John Tavares (33G, 43A). Matthews and Tavares have scored 16 and 13 power play goals, respectively, while Marner operates as the main playmaker with 26 power play assists.

Saturday, April 8 vs. New Jersey Devils

• The New Jersey Devils have a 48-21-8 record, are in second place in the Metropolitan Division and are third overall in the Eastern Conference with 104 points and a +50 goal differential.
• Boston has won seven of the last eight meetings versus New Jersey, including two wins within five days of each other back in December. The Devils are a very exciting squad with plenty of talent spread throughout the roster but they've struggled recently, posting just a 4-4-2 record across their last ten games and getting blown out, 6-1 by the Winnipeg Jets in their most recent game.
• New Jersey has three skaters with at least 30 goals with Jack Hughes (40G, 50A) leading the way in nearly every category. Thanks to this strong offensive attack, the Devils have registered the fifth-most high-danger chances in the league (186), the fourth-best shots per game average (34.5) and are tied for the sixth-most goals scored this season (264). In their eight wins during March, they averaged 4.1 goals per game.
• While the offense excels, the defense holds it down on the other side of the ice, allowing just 130 high-danger chances this season, good for the second-lowest total across the league. New Jersey posts a 50.95% takeaway rate and only commits giveaways in its defensive zone just 53.74% of the time.

Sunday, April 9 @ Philadelphia Flyers

• The Philadelphia Flyers have a 29-34-13 record, are in seventh place in the Metropolitan Division and are fourteenth overall in the Eastern Conference with 71 points and a -46 goal differential.
• The Flyers have lost three straight games to higher-quality opponents but had won five of their last six games before this skid. The Bruins have topped the Flyers twice already this season, scoring 10 goals and allowing just one. Across its last three losses, Philadelphia has allowed an average of 5.0 goals.
• Philadelphia has struggled in multiple areas all season but the most noticeable has been its lackluster power play unit that scores just 15.7% of the time, good for the worst percentage in the league. Despite rolling out talented goal-scorers like Travis Konecny (29G, 27A) and Owen Tippett (23G, 19A), the Flyers have just a 47.07% expected goal percentage and just 150 total high-danger chances. It’s worth mentioning that Konecny has netted goals in back-to-back games since returning from injury, however.

Tuesday, April 11 vs. Washington Capitals

• The Washington Capitals have a 34-34-9 record, are in sixth place in the Metropolitan Division and are tied for thirteenth overall in the Eastern Conference with 77 points and a -3 goal differential.
• The Capitals have taken a huge step back in terms of success this season and are 2-6-2 across their last ten games as a result. During that span, they fell to inferior opponents and averaged just 3.1 goals per game while allowing over 4.2 goals against. The consistency from all areas of the ice just has not clicked recently.
• Alexander Ovechkin (42G, 31A) hasn’t missed a step while Dylan Strome (19G, 39A) and Evgeny Kuznetsov (12G, 42A) have provided playmaking support. Washington manages to get over 30 shots on net per game but only averages 3.1 goals per game. The Capitals rank in the bottom half of the league in expected goal percentage (50.45%) and have only generated 161 high-danger chances this season, the 14th-most in the league.
• The power play unit remains relevant as long as Ovechkin is playing but they’ve only converted 21.3% of their power play opportunities this season, which ranks 16th in the league. Boston will have its hands full when on the power play, however, with Washington posting the fifth-best penalty kill percentage in the league (82.5%).

Thursday, April 13 @ Montreal Canadiens

• The Montreal Canadiens have a 30-41-6 record, are in last place in the Atlantic Division and are fifteenth overall in the Eastern Conference with 66 points and a -65 goal differential.
• With over six players declared out for the season in just the last few weeks and one of the worst records in the league, the Canadiens can’t wait for the season to be over at this point. Montreal has topped some quality opponents in Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay and Buffalo across its last ten games but is still just 4-6-0 in that span with a -6 goal differential.
• Nick Suzuki (23G, 38A) has been the only player that has stayed healthy and provided somewhat consistent value, leading the team in both points (61) and power play points (17). However, the Canadiens’ expected goal percentage is just 44.17%, the fourth-lowest in the league. As a team, they manage to get just 27.4 shots on net per game and rank bottom five in power play percentage (17.1%) and bottom three in penalty kill percentage (72.9%).
• Montreal’s primary issue is its lack of consistent defense and goaltending. Whether it’s Sam Montembeault (15-16-3 record) or Jake Allen (15-24-3 record), the Canadiens have given up the fifth-most goals in the league (282) and have consistently allowed at least 3.7 goals per game, as a result. Not only have they given up goals, but the defense has also been just as inconsistent, allowing the most high-danger chances (212) in the league and committing a giveaway in their defensive zone a whopping 74.93% of the time.

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