Philadelphia Flyers at New York Rangers Betting Pick
After a thrilling overtime game on Monday, the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers will face off in the Big Apple. The Flyers won the game 5-4, just their third win in the month of March, while the Rangers’ loss was their fourth in their last five games.
Here is a closer look at both of these teams, from key stats to players to watch. Philadelphia is a slight favorite at -142, while New York is a home underdog at +120.
Key Stats
The Flyers are a team that doesn’t shoot often but have very favorable results when they do. Philadelphia only takes 28 shots per game, the fourth-fewest in the NHL, but ranks fifth with 3.35 goals per game with the second-highest shooting percentage.
New York has a more normal correlation, ranking 19th in goals and 20th in shots per game with 2.78 and 29.5, respectively. Philly also has an advantage on the power play, winning the battle 20.7 to 14.1 percent.
On the defensive end, the Rangers hold multiple advantages pretty favorably. New York is 11th with 2.78 goals allowed, eighth in shots allowed, and fourth in penalty kill percentage with an 85.6 percent kill rate. Meanwhile, the Flyers are just 25th with 3.27 goals allowed, 16th with just under 30 shots allowed, and 26th with a 74.1 percent penalty kill success rate.
Flyers Key Players
Longtime wing Jakub Voracek has stepped up considerably in the last couple of days. Voracek netted his fourth goal of the year and added his 16th and 17th assists of the year in Philly’s 5-4 win on Monday. Before that, he added another pair of assists two days before against the Capitals.
Flyers captain Claude Giroux has been performing well recently as well. Giroux scored once and assisted once on Monday while also scoring in two of his three games prior. Defenseman Ivan Provorov also had a multi-point effort against New York, as did Joel Farabee, while Travis Konecny had points in each of his two games before Monday.
After earning the win on Monday, Philadelphia will likely turn to Carter Hart to man the crease once again. Hart is 7-6-3 this season with a 3.61 GAA, and .884 save percentage.
Rangers Key Players
The Rangers welcomed back star winger Artemi Panarin last week, and he didn’t miss a beat. Panarin, who was away from the team due to personal reasons, scored a goal and dished out a pair of assists on Monday. The All-Star also earned an assist Saturday against the Bruins in his return to action.
New York relies on a couple of other people as well. Winger Chris Kreider had a goal and assist Saturday against Boston, giving him 14 goals on the year.
Mika Zibanejad has had a slower start to the season but also had two helpers on Saturday. Additionally, Ryan Strome and Colin Blackwell each have points in two consecutive outings, with Blackwell netting his sixth goal of the year against Philadelphia.
Backup Keith Kinkaid drew the start in goal on Monday, so the Rangers will hand over the reins to Alexandar Georgiev. Georgiev has gone 4-4-2 this season with a 3.33 GAA, and .887 save percentage.
Betting Pick
On Monday, the Flyers managed to squeak out a close win in overtime. However, this game will go the other way. New York is the superior defensive team and is upgrading their goalie situation with Georgiev ahead of Kinkaid.
Philly is a good team, but one that has had a lot of puck luck to cancel out their low shot total. With Panarin back and not missing the beat, take the Rangers as the home underdogs to win this Wednesday night battle.
Pick: Rangers +120
