Bruins vs Flyers NHL Spread/Handicapping
Flyers in Unfamiliar Spoiler Role Versus Bruins
There aren’t a whole lot of people that thought the Philadelphia Flyers would enter the final week of the Regular Season with nothing to play for except for jobs for next season but that is exactly where this team stands with four games left.
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Their chore Tuesday night – to make things tough on a Boston Bruins team that is still scrapping for a Northeast Division crown and ultimately the #2 seed in the Eastern Conference. This will be the third and final meeting between the teams this season. They split their first two games – the Bruins won 3-0 in Boston on March 9, while the Flyers won 3-1 in Philadelphia on March 30.
Boston Bruins (27-12-2-3) at Philadelphia Flyers (20-22-1-2)
When: 7:30 PM ET, Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Where: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Broadcast: TSN, NBCSN, NESN, CSN-PH
Bruins vs. Flyers Betting Lines from betonline.com
Boston Bruins -1½ +220 -131 Ov 5½ +116
Philadelphia Flyers +1½ -260 +119 Un 5½ -128
The Boston Bruins have had quite a week. Not only have they dealt with postponements and intense emotion but they also endured an untimely four game losing streak before beating the Florida Panthers on Sunday. They are tops in the Northeast Division but are anything but hot entering the final week of the season.
The Bruins are still heavily reliant on a strong defense – something that will come in handy against a suddenly hot Flyers team. The Bruins allow just 2.14 goals per games and both keepers have a sub-2.00 goals against average in their last five outings. Tuukka Rask and Anton Khudobin have been an enormous reason for Boston’s success.
Bruins leading scorer Brad Marchand has goals in two straight games and five points in his past five games and Tyler Seguin and Zdeno Chara each have two points in two games – they are the hottest offensive Bruins which isn’t saying a whole lot.
If you looked at the offensive numbers alone, it is almost inexplicable that the Philadelphia Flyers have already been eliminated from playoff contention. The average 2.73 goals for per game, their power play is sitting at 22.1% and the team has won three of its last four games, scoring 16 times in their last three wins. [ad-4437448]
Wayne Simmonds had the hat trick against Carolina Saturday and has four points in his last two games, Jakub Voracek has three goals and two assists in the past four games and Matt Read has three points in his last two games. However, Scott Hartnell and Simon Gagne are pointless in their last three games overall.
The problem for the Flyers has been defense and goals against – they allow 3.00 goals per game. Ilya Bryzgalov has been terrible at times this year but Steve Mason has been decent since being acquired at the trade deadline. He may get the start Tuesday on a heels of a 2-1-0 record in his last three games with a 2.02 GAA and good .933 save % age. The Flyers could be better at full strength as well – they are 28th in the League in even-strength goals for/against at 0.82 per game.
Betting Prediction
A few trends to consider:
• Under is 8-1 in BOS last 9 vs. Atlantic.
• Under is 7-2-2 in BOS last 11 road games.
• Under is 19-7-4 in BOS last 30 overall.
• PHI are 3-9 in their last 12 Tue. games.
• Under is 14-5 in PHI last 19 Tue. games.
• BOS are 10-2 in the last 12 meetings.
The Flyers are missing forwards Zac Rinaldo (ankle), Maxime Talbot (leg), and Jody Shelley (hip), and defensemen Braydon Coburn (shoulder), Andrej Meszaros (shoulder), Nicklas Grossmann (concussion), Kent Huskins (concussion) and Bruno Gervais (torn stomach muscle). No wonder they are thinking about next year. The Bruins are relatively healthy ahead of Tuesday’s contest.
Boston still has a ton to play for down the stretch and with the insanity that they dealt with last week behind them, expect the Bruins to be that focused group once again – starting in Philadelphia. The Bruins have won 10 of the last 12 meeting between the teams – no reason to think that trend doesn’t continue.
Pick: Boston Bruins -131
