Philadelphia Flyers vs. Pittsburgh Penguins Game 2 Prediction, NHL Playoff Odds
Philadelphia struck first in the battle of Pennsylvania as the Flyers and Penguins gear up for Game 2 in Pittsburgh on Monday.
The playoff matchup no one saw coming delivered in Game 1, with the Flyers returning to the postseason with a dramatic 3-2 win over Pittsburgh on Saturday. Now Philly has a chance to go back home with a 2-0 series lead, while the Pens try to even things up.
Pittsburgh is a -150 favourite to win on the NHL odds, with the total set at 6.0.
Flyers vs. Penguins NHL Betting Odds
If this year’s history is any indication, the Flyers will need to continue to grind out wins against the Pens. In five combined regular season and playoff games, Philadelphia’s three wins have all come by one-goal margins. On the flip side, Pittsburgh’s two wins were by four and three goals, respectively.
Oddsmakers have had a quick change of heart as the updated series line has completely flipped. The Flyers are the new series favourites at -170 after entering Game 1 as +135 underdogs. The Penguins went into Game 1 as -160 favourites, but now sit at +140 ahead of Game 2.
Philadelphia Flyers
Jamie Drysdale opened the scoring midway through Game 1, while Travis Sanheim scored the go-ahead goal midway through the third period. Rookie Porter Martone, who has 10 points in nine career regular season games, continued the hot start to his career with his first playoff goal to add the insurance late in the third period. Dan Vladar made 15 saves on 17 shots.
One key for the Flyers will be continuing to play at even-strength. Philadelphia was one of the better teams at 5-on-5 in the regular season with a plus-11 goal differential, but they struggled at special teams. The Flyers ranked dead last on the power play (15.7 per cent) and 21st on the penalty kill (77.6 per cent). That’s a bad recipe against a Pittsburgh team that was top-10 in both power play and penalty kill percentage.
Pittsburgh Penguins
Evgeni Malkin scored his 68th career playoff goal on Saturday and Bryan Rust added his 22nd, but the Penguins couldn’t muster much offence with just 17 shots on goal. It was a pretty surprising result from the team that averaged the third-most goals (3.54) and 10th-most shots on goal (28.6) per game during the regular season.
Stuart Skinner, who turned aside 17 of 20 shots faced, got the start for Pittsburgh in Game 1, but head coach Dan Muse wasn’t willing to announce a Game 2 starter before the series. Skinner has split the net almost evenly with Arturs Silovs since arriving in a trade from Edmonton in December, but with both goalies combining for an .885 save percentage over 53 games, the leash is short in net.
