Philadelphia Flyers vs. Montreal Canadiens Prediction, NHL Odds
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Edgar Chaput
Here’s to weekend vibes.
Both Philly and Montreal are struggling to keep their heads above water after some disastrous outings recently.
Martin Saint-Louis’ Canadiens are marked as -1.5 favourites on the NHL odds. The over-under is 6 goals scored.
Flyers vs. Canadiens NHL Betting Odds
Meetings between these two franchises have been relatively rare since the summer 2020 playoff series won by the Pennsylvanian side 4-2. They’ve crossed paths only three times since then, with the Habs holding a 2-1 edge in those contests.
Despite their mediocre 7-7-3 win-loss showing, Philadelphia has performed well against the spread this season, going 10-7 in the process. Coupled with the fact that the team has been pinned as underdogs most of the time and it starts to look solid. There is, however, a significant caveat attached to that statistic. It was only a couple of weeks ago that they were 10-2 ATS, but a calamitous losing streak has seen them flounder five games in a row.
Montreal’s season ATS has been a roller coaster 9-8, just as is the 8-8-1 win-loss record they have to show for their efforts. The team doesn’t really go on significant streaks either. They’ll cover one, then not. They’ll cover two in a row, then fail twice back-to-back. That said, a bit like with Philly, the Habs are usually underdogs, so 9-8 is positive in that context.
Philadelphia Flyers
It might seem incredulous that John Tortorella’s men are in the top half of the NHL rankings with regard to total goals conceded. Anyone who started watching their matches over the past week would think they’re the worst team in the league. As a collective Philly is 7th with respect to save percentage. What’s the issue? Shots against. At 581, they are 6th worst, so teams are clobbering them with scoring opportunities.
Thursday night saw the ensemble suffer a 4-1 defeat at the hands of the Boston Bruins. That in of itself is not horrific given Boston’s mesmerizing season so far. The problem is precious few scoring chances were generated, and Bruins goalie Linus Ullmark made great saves when needed. Whatever ray of light Owen Tippet’s goal sparked to cut the deficit to 2-1, it lasted all but 16 seconds. Boston roared to take back a 2-goal lead, one they never relinquished. Consider that in the five-game losing streak the team has never given up fewer than four goals and scored more than two only once.
Montreal Canadiens
Perhaps we should not be so hard on the Philadelphia Flyers. After all, the Habs suffered a similar fate against the suddenly surging Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday night, taking the L by the final score of 6-4 (the Flyers lost 5-4 on Tuesday).
Jake Allen was given a rest after getting pounded by New Jersey 5-1 on Tuesday. Backup Sam Montembeault played in net, but wasn’t up to par, giving up five goals on 33 shots. To be fair, the first was a fluke that deflected off his stick, then off a Montreal defenceman before trickling into the net, but it wasn’t a great night. Montreal showed some fight, coming back to tie the game twice. Nick Suzuki scored his team-leading 11th goal in the process.
The Canadiens too have had a dreadful time preventing other teams from scoring as of late, giving up no less than four goals in three consecutive games.
