{"id":485566,"date":"2026-03-21T07:53:23","date_gmt":"2026-03-21T11:53:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=485566"},"modified":"2026-03-21T06:42:52","modified_gmt":"2026-03-21T10:42:52","slug":"nhl-predictions-detroit-red-wings-boston-bruins-march-21st","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2026\/03\/21\/nhl-predictions-detroit-red-wings-boston-bruins-march-21st\/","title":{"rendered":"NHL Predictions: Detroit Red Wings vs Boston Bruins, March 21st"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is NHL Predictions at Last Word On Hockey.<\/em> Today\u2019s edition features two teams with ultra-high stakes. The Detroit Red Wings<\/a> and Boston Bruins are gearing up to square-off in a game in which you couldn\u2019t ask for a more entertaining scenario. Both teams within striking distance of a top-three spot in the Atlantic Division.<\/p>\n

NHL Predictions With the Detroit Red Wings and Boston Bruins<\/h2>\n

Season Series:<\/strong> 1-1-1 for the Red Wings, and 2-1-0 for the Bruins.<\/p>\n

Puck Drop:<\/strong> 8:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT)<\/p>\n

How to Watch<\/a>:<\/strong> ABC<\/h3>\n

Location:<\/strong> Little Caesars Arena, in Detroit Michigan.<\/p>\n

The Red Wings might still be banged up, but they have kept momentum and their playoff hopes alive despite an up-and-down first half of March<\/a>. They are 2-0-1 in their last three games, and have outscored opponents 10-4 in their last seven periods. The Bruins dropped two straight in overtime before crushing the Winnipeg Jets<\/a> on Thursday night to keep pace with the Wings. Few teams have bounced back this season like the Bruins. Now, they\u2019re looking to take that bounce-back campaign up another notch.<\/p>\n

<\/smartframe-embed><\/p>\n

Credit Image: \u00a9 Armando L. Sanchez\/Chicago Tribune via ZUMA Press Wire<\/span><\/p>\n

Playoff Pictures for the Red Wings and Bruins<\/h3>\n

Few teams are in such precarious positions heading into the 70th game of their respective seasons. Both clock in with 84 points and are in Eastern Conference Wild Card positions. But the New York Islanders (83 points) are knocking on the door. Ironically, both are in a position to keep up with the Montreal Canadiens, who also have 84 points on the year, thanks to Detroit\u2019s big win over the Habs on Thursday evening.<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s Matchup<\/h3>\n

It\u2019s tough to tell which team is skating into this one with more momentum. Both groups had their struggles in the first half of March, before either winning games outright or picking up a point in overtime.<\/p>\n

Both teams have also taken different paths to getting where they currently are in the playoff race, with the Bruins relying on goal-scoring while the Wings have one of the NHL\u2019s more underrated, but surprising, goaltending duos in John Gibson<\/a> and Cam Talbot<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The best way for either team to finish this one on top is to draw penalties. Detroit and Boston both rank in the top half of the league on the power play, with Detroit finding the net 21.7 percent of the time while on the man advantage and Boston, 23.67.<\/p>\n

Boston\u2019s converting 12.0 percent of their total shots on goal, which is 1.6 percent higher than the Red Wings. But the burning question is: Will the Bruins see the same success against the Wings strong goaltenders?<\/p>\n

Injury News and Lineup Notes<\/h3>\n

The Wings saw Andrew Copp<\/a> return in Thursday\u2019s win. That was a major boost for them, and captain Dylan Larkin<\/a> is nearing his big return. It won\u2019t likely occur until next week, but the Wings have shown they can weather the storm in creative ways.<\/p>\n

One way involved putting rookie Emmitt Finnie<\/a> at centre, where he has more than held his own. A high-energy player, Finnie is hit-or-miss in point production, but he has now shown he can be a versatile player capable of handling multiple roles.<\/p>\n

The Bruins are skating into this one as a healthy bunch with no injuries to key players. This will give them a slight edge on paper over the Wings, and even more so if David Pastrnak<\/a> and Morgan Geekie<\/a> bring their A-Games for this one.<\/p>\n

The Goalies<\/h3>\n

For the Red Wings, John Gibson is the likely starter in the net. His bounce-back season as a number-one goaltender continues with the stakes a little more higher, and he’s now sporting a .907 save percentage with a 2.53 goals-against average, and four shutouts.<\/p>\n

Jeremy Swayman<\/a> is projected to start for the Bruins. Swayman has also enjoyed a solid campaign with a .906 save percentage, a 2.73 GAA, and a shutout. Should he ultimately get the nod, fans will be treated to a duel between two of the league’s more talented netminders.<\/p>\n

Now is a great time for our disclaimer. Always check social media before puck drop to confirm who’s in the net. It’s also good to check before setting your fantasy roster for the day.<\/em><\/p>\n

NHL Predictions<\/h3>\n

The Red Wings may still be missing Dylan Larkin, but their gritty, never-say-die approach has kept them in games, beating talented teams like the Canadiens, and nearly stealing one recently against the Dallas Stars. Meanwhile, the Bruins may be coming off a big win versus the Winnipeg Jets, but they have struggled on the road as of late, and have even played down against teams they should have beaten, like the New Jersey Devils.<\/p>\n

Prediction: Red Wings 3 \u2013 Bruins 2<\/em><\/p>\n

Prop Picks<\/h3>\n

For our classic, anytime goal scorers, we have a couple studs. For Detroit, take Patrick Kane. Meanwhile for the Bs, we have none other than their offensive leader, Pasta, David Pastrnak.<\/p>\n

Main Photo Credit: Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports<\/p>\n

Please play responsibly, check for your local rules and age restrictions; some jurisdictions require ages 21+. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is NHL Predictions at Last Word On Hockey. Today\u2019s edition features two teams with ultra-high stakes. The Detroit Red Wings and Boston Bruins are gearing up to square-off in a game in which you couldn\u2019t ask for a more entertaining scenario. Both teams within striking distance of a top-three spot in the Atlantic Division. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5796,"featured_media":451721,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,5,4547,4548,4524],"tags":[6081,6201],"class_list":["post-485566","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-redwings","category-bruins","category-hockey","category-nhl","category-nhl-predictions","tag-boston-bruins-predictions","tag-detroit-red-wings-predictions"],"modified_by":"Levi Pike, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485566","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5796"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=485566"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485566\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":485589,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485566\/revisions\/485589"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/451721"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=485566"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=485566"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=485566"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}