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NHL Free Pick: Flyers vs. Hurricanes Betting Odds & Handicapping Preview

NHL Lines: Philadelphia vs Carolina Pick

Metropolitan Division opponents will face off on Tuesday night when the Philadelphia Flyers (26-23-11) take on theCarolina Hurricanes (21-30-7). Cappers Picks will provide free NHL picks all season so check back often.

NHL Predictions

Philadelphia vs Carolina
When: Tuesday Feb. 24 at 7:00 pm EST
Where: PNC Arena
TV: TVA
NHL Gambling Line: Philadelphia +107/ Carolina -118
NHL Gambling Over Under Line: 5.5
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It seems a bit strange that teams separated by 14 points in the standings would give odds like this, with Carolina getting the slight edge as the favourite. The two have split their season series thus far with the home team coming out the victor in each of their first two meetings.

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The 14 point gap would suggest that there is a big difference in quality between these teams but the Hurricanes have lost just three more games than the Flyers to this point in the season.

Flyers

Philadelphia is another one of those teams in a category along with the Florida Panthers, having accumulated a solid number of points in losses.

As the Flyers’ record indicates the team has lost a total of 34 games against just 26 wins, but they have managed to take almost a third of those losses to overtime which essentially means losing 11 straight games in regulation is no different than going 5-5-1 over that same stretch.

This is what makes today’s NHL such an intriguing numbers game because while the Flyers sit 14 points up on the Hurricanes, their 26 wins in 60 games adds up to a win percentage of just .433, not exactly earth shattering.

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That being said, Philly is a talented team with the likes of Jakub Voracek, Claude Giroux and Brayden Schenn leading the way on offense. Like so many teams that are on the bubble, Philly’s success rests largely on whether or not they get consistent goaltending.

When Steve Mason was healthy and playing well this team was winning games, when Mason gets hurt or is off his game they’re very beatable.

Mason is still on the sidelines and it looks as if Rob Zepp will get the call in goal tonight. Zepp has not posted stellar numbers with a 2.63 GAA and .894 SV% but he has a record of 5-1-0, which could point to the Flyers just playing much better hockey when he’s in net.

Hurricanes

It’s been another  woeful season for the Hurricanes who have had few bright spots to look to for the future. Justin Faulk however is one of those bright spots and looks as if he’ll be the man to anchor this team’s blue line going forward.

The 22-year-old defenseman has logged big minutes for the team this year and leads the ‘Canes with 36 points. 20-year old Elias Lindholm looks like he could be a solid player for this team in the future as well with 25 points in his sophomore season.

This is the team however that looked as if they had made the steal of the decade in drafting Jeff Skinner seventh overall in 2010, but injuries have hampered Skinner and his production has dipped severely.

There is still a decent base of talent on this team and despite their results, Carolina has a roster that can jump up and surprise you if taken lightly.

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They still have the Staal brothers Eric and Jordan, along with the young guys listed above and a blue line stalwart in Andrej Sekera who is likely to be trade bait heading into the March 2 deadline.

Flyers vs. Hurricanes 4* Free Pick

The Flyers have won two straight coming into this one and are 5-4-1 overall in their last 10. The Hurricanes have been going at about the same clip at 4-5-1 over their last 10 but have actually put forth a very strong showing over a tough stretch of games.

Carolina’s past five games have included two against the Ducks, and one each against the Sharks, Wild and Coyotes and they managed to go 3-1-1.

Carolina, despite a pretty awful overall record are a fairly solid 12-11-3 at home, while the Flyers are one of the worst road teams in the NHL with a record of 9-15-6. I like the Hurricanes to take care of business at home tonight against a team that they’ve already beaten in Carolina.

I’m taking the Hurricanes in this one.

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By Matt Durnan

A (self-proclaimed) fantasy sports guru since 2004 and a journalist since 2007. He has been offering unsolicited sports gambling advice to his circle of friends for years and has now put himself at the mercy of online readers everywhere. "It's not whether you win or lose, it's how much fun you have"... His hockey coach told him that when he was 7. His team lost every game that year.