The Philadelphia Flyers take on the Boston Bruins Saturday night for the second half of a two-game series. The Bruins won 5-4 in a shootout on Thursday. The Flyers won two of three meetings last season.
- Date/Time: January 23, 7:00 p.m. ET
- Arena: TD Garden
- TV Coverage: NHL
- Sportsbook Odds: Bruins -143 | O/U 6.5 (Line History)
- Flyers vs Bruins (Matchup Report)
Sportsbook Odds Analysis
The game opened with the Bruins as favorites at -143 and the line can now be found in the -145 to -160 range. The total opened at 6.5 but is now locked in at 5.5 with the UNDER as the favorite in the -110 to -115 range.
Flyers News & Notes
Despite their 3-1-1 record to start the season, the Philadelphia Flyers have been outshot and out-chanced in every game this season. In fact, the team’s share of high danger scoring chances has decreased in each consecutive game. Those underlying numbers are not pretty, but there are some positives for the team.
Despite their lackluster share of the overall chances, the Flyers are scoring at an efficient clip (they are second in the league in goals with 19), mostly due to an abundance of offensive talent. Winger Travis Konecny is tied for first in the league in goals with five and tied for second in the league with seven points. Center Kevin Hayes also has seven points.
In net, Carter Hart will get the start for the Flyers on Saturday. Hart is 2-1-1 with a modest .902 save percentage and 3.67 goals against average. Brian Elliott will serve as the backup. Elliott is 1-0-0 with a .964 save percentage this season.
Boston News & Notes
It has been an up and down season for the Bruins this year who are 2-1-1 and have been to overtime or a shootout in three of their four games. The Bruins were out-chanced and outshot in two of their games and had the majority of the chances and shots in the other two.
It is a bit of a different look for the Bruins this season after the departure of longtime defensive stalwarts in captain Zdeno Chara and Torey Krug. The team is also without last year’s leading scorer David Pastrnak who had hip surgery in the offseason. Pastrnak has 48 goals and 95 points for the Bruins last season.
In net, the long-time tandem of Tuukka Rask and Jaroslav Halak are still holding down the fort. Rask has started three of the four games this year and .892 save percentage and 2.23 goals against average. Halak will make his second start of the season on Saturday.
Betting Pick: Flyers +135
The numbers say the Flyers are trending in the wrong direction of late, but the Bruins have not been much better and are starting their backup goalie. You are getting much more bang for your buck taking the Flyers here.
- The OVER is 4-1 in Philadelphia’s last five games.
- Philadelphia is 5-2 in their last seven games vs Boston.
- Boston is 3-6 in their last nine games at home.
