Islanders vs. Flyers Game 2 Prediction, Stanley Cup Playoff Odds
Game 1 between New York and Philadelphia went exactly as planned for Barry Trotz’s club: pressure and grab a first period lead, lock it down afterward, and capitalize on later scoring chances. Both clubs will now regroup for a Wednesday matinée.
What might be bad news for Philadelphia is that midweek afternoon hockey doesn’t exactly scream excitement, and the Islanders should be used to the timeslot after four afternoon qualifying round games.
The NHL odds board currently has the Flyers as -114 favourites with the total at five goals.
Islanders vs. Flyers NHL Playoff Odds
New York’s 4-0 win Monday was on par for the Islanders who have averaged exactly four goals per game in their last 10 versus Philadelphia. And even though the game total was only four, the over is still 11-2 in the last 13 Islanders–Flyers meetings.
Oddsmakers still have over 5 goals listed at +110, which likely has a lot to do with the Islanders and Flyers ranking one and two in postseason goals against among teams still remaining. Or it’s due to Semyon Varlamov posting back-to-back shutouts and a .941 save percentage.
New York Islanders
Varlamov is holding it down in net with a full team effort in front of him. No Islanders player had a multi-point game Monday, and two defencemen scored their first of the postseason in Andy Greene and Devon Toews, albeit Toews’ was into a yawning cage.
Jean-Gabriel Pageau, who’s been quietly fantastic, buried his fifth goal of the playoffs in Game 1. Pageau skated on a line with Ross Johnston and Leo Komarov Monday, as the Islanders still deploy a gritty, old-school bottom-six and it’s been effective.
You’d have to nitpick to find something off with New York — they’re playing near perfect hockey.
Philadelphia Flyers
The Flyers are struggling, getting outscored 18-11 since their First Round series with Montreal. Even stranger is that in four of Philadelphia’s seven official playoff games, a team has gone goalless. The Flyers fell victim to the shutout Monday, but netminder Carter Hart has two shutouts this postseason — one of which coming after Philadelphia was shut out.
On the offensive front, Claude Giroux, Sean Couturier, and Travis Konecny are all still scoreless in the NHL bubble and Philadelphia needs a lot more from all three.
The Flyers are a 2-0 off a loss this postseason. They have the talent, but can Philadelphia find a way to get ahead and beat Varlamov early? If not, expect more of the same in terms of the pace in this series.
NYI
PHI