The Philadelphia Flyers look for their sixth straight win over Toronto and the Montreal Canadiens conclude the western portion of their four-game road swing at Vancouver
Bryzgalov has a 7-2 record in his past nine starts including a current four-game win streak
Philadelphia’s recent run of success has given the team a slight advantage over New Jersey and Ottawa towards catching Pittsburgh for home ice in the Eastern Conference standings but with the way the Flyers can play away from home, it might not matter.
The Flyers’ 21 road wins are second most in the league and they are one of only two playoff eligible teams (Vancouver) to have won more games on the road than at home.
Ilya Bryzgalov has found his stride after a rough first-half and in his last seven starts, the first-year Flyer has held five opponents to two goals or less (5-2-0).
Toronto is 2-11-1 in its past 14 games and 11 of the teams they faced scored at least three goals. Nine had four goals or more and it helps explain why the Leafs rank 28th overall with a 3.08 goals against average.
Online sportsbooks offer the Flyers -106 with a total of 5.5 Over (-125) and our first NHL pick is on the red-hot road team to steal another win.
Pick: Take the Flyers
MONTREAL vs. VANCOUVER
Line: Canucks -230, 5.5 Under -137
The goaltending matchup for tonight was bound to draw attention from “Under” bettors and one line tracking service shows 72-percent action. Carey Price has a 2.48 goals against average in 58 starts but he is 23-26-9 and on pace for his second losing campaign in three years thanks to a mediocre Habs offense.
Montreal was 25th in league scoring during the month of February at 2.21 goals per game, though they have roared into March with 15 goals in four games (3.75 avg).
The Canadiens have plenty of experience against Roberto Luongo from his years in the Eastern Conference and the Canucks No. 1 is just 10-11-5 against Montreal all-time.
Vancouver’s offense suffered a late-February power outage that lingered into this seven-game homestand but playing with rest, they should try to employ an up tempo gameplan that takes advantage of a Montreal team who have played five of its past seven on the road.
We lean to the “Over” 5.5 at plus money in the nightcap and if you have an account at Pinnacle Sports, consider playing the “Over” 5/5.5 split at -102.
Betting Tip: Splitting an Over/Under wage at 5/5.5 costs roughly 25 cents in juice but if the game goes to overtime at 2-2 and/or ends with five total goals, the total loss is reduced 50-percent to a half-unit
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