Blackhawks vs. Bruins Prediction, NHL Odds & Best Bets (10/31)

Fact checked at 9:41 AM ET, Oct 31, 2026

Odds as of 8:16 AM ET, Oct 31, 2026

The Blackhawks (4-9-0) visit the Bruins (9-4-1) at TD Garden for a 1:00 PM ET puck drop on NESN and CHSN. Boston managed one goal in each game of its two-game trip, losing 2-1 at Carolina and 4-1 at St. Louis, but it's 5-1-0 at home with four straight wins here. Chicago is 0-5-0 on the road and has six goals in its last five games. We expect Boston to reach three or four goals and Chicago to stop at one or two. All three picks win in that game: two Bruins on the scoresheet and Tyler Bertuzzi off it.

Boston is -230 with the total at 6. Jeremy Swayman is projected for Boston but unconfirmed, and Chicago hasn't named a starter, with projections split between Spencer Knight and Arvid Soderblom. Player props may settle differently in overtime at different books.

Blackhawks vs. Bruins Predictions

• Pick #1: Casey Mittelstadt Over 0.5 Points (+135)
• Pick #2: Tyler Bertuzzi Under 0.5 Points (-140)
• Pick #3: David Pastrnak Over 0.5 Assists (-155)

PICK #1: Casey Mittelstadt Over 0.5 Points (+135)

A third-liner is worth a look at plus money against this defense. The Blackhawks allow 3.69 goals a game, 29th of 32 teams, and 30.3 shots, with Bowen Byram (upper body) day-to-day and Ryan Ellis out for the season. Knight has a 3.21 goals-against average and an .897 save percentage. Soderblom is at 4.58 and .820 in two decisions, so the case holds with either in net.

Mittelstadt has a point in 7 of his last 10 games and 7 of 14 this season. Fourteen games isn't many, but he also had a point in 34 of 71 last season at similar minutes, or 47.9%, and +135 implies 42.6%. He's projected on the left side with Elias Lindholm and James Hagens. His shot was the one Hagens deflected for Boston's only goal at St. Louis, and he played 15:58 in that game with time on the second power-play unit.

The Under is -185, so the market reads him as a quiet player, and he opened this season with four scoreless games. Boston also averages only 25.9 shots a game, which means its goals won't come from volume.

PICK #2: Tyler Bertuzzi Under 0.5 Points (-140)

Bertuzzi has gone five straight games without a point, and his 14:02 in the 4-1 loss at Detroit was his lowest ice time of the season. He's scoreless in 9 of 13 this season, and -140 implies 58.3%.

He isn't getting much help. Chicago scores 2.08 goals a game, 31st in the league, on 21.6 shots, and it has two or fewer in each of its last five. Its power play is last at 10.0%, four goals on 40 chances. Boston allows 2.29 goals a game, among the fewest in the league. Swayman has a 2.35 goals-against average and a .912 save percentage, and if Boston rests him, Michael DiPietro is at 1.69 and .941 in three games, which is no easier for Bertuzzi.

You're betting on this season's Bertuzzi here. He was scoreless in only 38 of 79 games last season, or 48.1%, playing about a minute more a night, and that record doesn't clear this price. He's still on Chicago's first power-play unit with Connor Bedard, and Boston's penalty kill is 18th at 77.6%, so one man-advantage point would sink this. The Over is +105.

PICK #3: David Pastrnak Over 0.5 Assists (-155)

When the Bruins get back on the board, their captain should be involved. He has seven goals and 11 assists in 14 games, with an assist in 7 of his last 10 and two-assist games against Winnipeg, Utah and Nashville. Last season backs it up: he had an assist in 48 of 77 games, or 62.3%, just above the 60.8% that -155 implies.

He played 21:28 in the last game and is projected with JJ Peterka and Pavel Zacha, with Morgan Geekie, Elias Lindholm, Zacha and Charlie McAvoy around him on the first power-play unit. Boston lists no one injured, and he gets the same Chicago defense that helps Mittelstadt.

The price isn't cheap and the recent run is softer, with an assist in only two of his last five and none at St. Louis. Chicago has killed 12 of the last 14 power plays it has faced. He also needs one goal to pass Patrice Bergeron for third on the Bruins' all-time list, which could have him looking to shoot.

21+ (18+ where permitted). Odds subject to change. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, call 1-800-GAMBLER.