Boston Bruins vs Washington Capitals: Game preview, predictions and odds

The Boston Bruins are on the road to play the Washington Capitals on Tuesday, Dec. 31, at 12:30 p.m. EST.

Boston (20-14-4) is coming off a 4-0 shutout win over the Columbus Blue Jackets. Washington (24-10-2) is coming off a 4-2 loss to the Detroit Red Wings.

Bruins vs Capitals: Head-to-head & key stats

Boston is 88-58-21-14 all-time against Washington
The Bruins are averaging 2.65 goals per game
The Capitals are 11-4-2 at home
Boston is allowing 3.02 goals per game
Washington is averaging 3.66 goals per game
The Bruins are 8-8-2 on the road
The Capitals are allowing 2.63 goals per game

Boston Bruins vs Washington Capitals: Preview

Boston is coming off a 4-0 win over Columbus, as the Bruins are 3-1 in their last four. The Bruins are led by David Pastrnak who has 37 points, Brad Marchand has 31 points and Elias Lindholm has 19 points.

The Bruins will start Jeremy Swayman who's 13-10-3 with a 2.93 GAA and a .890 SV%. In his career against Washington, he's 3-4 with a 1.68 GAA and a .932 SV%.

Washington, meanwhile, lost to Detroit last time out and lost to Boston on Dec. 23. The Capitals are expected to start Logan Thompson who's 14-2-2 with a 2.38 GAA and a .916 SV%. In his career against Boston, he's 2-1 with a 2.29 GAA and a .932 SV%.

The Capitals are led by Dylan Strome who has 39 points, Connor McMichael has 30, Aliaksei Protas has 30 points and Pierre-Luc Dubois and Alex Ovechkin have 27 points.

Bruins vs Capitals: Odds & Prediction

Boston is a +124 underdog, while Washington is a -148 favorite, with the over/under set at 6 goals.

The Bruins beat Washington a week ago, but the Capitals are now at home and should be able to return the favor. Thompson has been stellar this season, and he should be able to limit the Bruins offense which has struggled this season.

Look for Washington to get out to an early lead and hold on to it and win a rather low-scoring game to enter 2025 on a high note.

Prediction: Washington 3, Bruins 2.

Bruins vs Capitals: Betting Tips

Tip 1: Washington ML (-148)

Tip 2: Under 6 goals (-125)

Tip 3: David Pastrnak 4+ shots on goal (-135)

About the author

Cole is an NHL, NFL and College Sports reporter at Sportskeeda with over 7 years of experience writing for publications like CBC, USA Today, SMG, BJPENN, Sherdog and SB Nation.

An NHL fan his whole life, Cole played rep hockey in Canada from age 5 until 17 and grew up rooting for Martin St. Louis and the Tampa Bay Lightning. His all-time favorite players are Vincent Lecavalier and Steven Stamkos, while Jon Cooper is his favorite coach of all time.

Cole attended Sheridan College and received his journalism degree in 2019. After decades of watching and reporting, he considers his knowledge of sports as his primary strength. He ensures that the same story has been reported by at least two reputed reporters before creating it.

Cole enjoys playing golf and spending time with friends and family when not reporting breaking stories. His favorite sports moment is from the 2010 Olympics, when Sidney Crosby scored the golden goal in overtime to beat Team USA for the gold medal.

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Edited by Rajdeep Barman

Boston Bruins vs Washington Capitals: Game preview, predictions and odds | December 31, 2024

Bruins vs Capitals: Head-to-head & key stats

Boston Bruins vs Washington Capitals: Preview

Bruins vs Capitals: Odds & Prediction

Bruins vs Capitals: Betting Tips