The Philadelphia Flyers take on the Washington Capitals for the fifth time this season on Tuesday night. The Capitals lead the season series 3-1 and have won the last three meetings by a combined score of 13-8.
- Date/Time: April 13, 7 p.m. ET
- Arena: Capital One Arena
- TV Coverage: NBCS
- Sportsbook Odds: Capitals -162 | O/U 6.5 (Line History)
- Flyers vs Capitals Matchup Report
Sportsbook Odds Analysis
The game opened with the Capitals as favorites at -162 and the line has moved into the -147 to -160 range. The total opened at 6.5 and is now at 6 across the board with the OVER favored at most books in the -110 to -130 range.
Philadelphia News & Notes
The Philadelphia Flyers may be the most disappointing team in the league this season relative to expectations. The Flyers were expected by many pundits to be a playoff team but instead find themselves in sixth place in the East Division.
The underlying numbers support where Philadelphia is positioned in the standings as the Flyers have been one of the worst teams at both ends of the ice this season. They rank 27th in the league in high-danger scoring chances and 27th in expected goals. They also rank 16th in high-danger chances against and 20th in expected goals for percentage.
The Flyers seemed to have realized their fate at the trade deadline as they unloaded a couple of expiring contracts instead of trying to add pieces for the final run-up to the playoffs. Forward Michael Raffl was traded to Washington while defenseman Erik Gustafsson went to Montreal. Both trades netted draft picks in return.
Washington News & Notes
While the Flyers spent the trade deadline unloading pieces, the Washington Capitals spent Monday loading up. In one of the biggest and most surprising deals of the day, the Capitals traded wingers Jakub Vrana and Richard Panik along with first- and second-round draft picks to Detroit for forward Anthony Mantha. Vrana has 11 goals and 25 points this season while Mantha has 11 goals and 21 points.
Though the price they paid for Mantha may have been exceedingly high, he will fit into a Caps team that finds itself poised for a deep playoff run. The Capitals are a strong defensive team but did need some help up front. The team ranks just 20th in expected goals this season and 24th in high-danger chances. Adding Mantha and Raffl upgrades the team offensively.
It is interesting that the Caps did not bring in a goalie. They now head into the final weeks with Ilya Samsonov and Vitek Vanecek as their duo between the pipes. The pair have a 69 combined NHL games played and no playoff starts.
Betting Pick: OVER 6
The Flyers are no longer in desperation mode hunting for a playoff spot. But the Capitals are still playing important hockey games as they jockey for position in the East Division. We like the Caps, but the odds aren’t great as the line creeps further in their direction. We prefer the OVER as a better bet considering the goaltending struggles of both teams.
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Buy Sports Picks Now- The total has gone OVER in 4 of Washington’s last 5 games.
- The total has gone OVER in 13 of Philadelphia’s last 19 games.
- Washington is 14-5 SU in its last 19 games.
