Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Philadelphia Flyers Game 3 Prediction, NHL Playoff Odds
It’s virtually do-or-die for the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday as they look to avoid falling into an 0-3 series hole when they visit the Philadelphia Flyers for Game 3.
You have to give a lot of credit to Philly. After stealing home ice away from the Pens with a 3-2 Game 1 victory, the Flyers doubled down with a 3-0 win in Game 2 and now head back home with a chance to go up 3-0 in the series on Wednesday.
Can Pittsburgh crawl back into this series, or will Philadelphia put themselves one win away from a date in the second round of the playoffs?
The Flyers are slim -120 favourites to win Game 3 on the NHL odds, with the total set at 6.0.
Penguins vs. Flyers NHL Betting Odds
The series isn’t technically over if the Penguins lose Game 3, but history speaks for itself. Only four teams have ever come come back to win a series when trailing 3-0 and it hasn’t happened since the Los Angeles Kings in 2014.
As such, it’s no surprise to see the Philadelphia listed as -425 favourites to win the series on the NHL futures board, while Pittsburgh is a +320 underdog. That’s a big change in the series line as the Pens were -160 favourites heading into Game 1 and the Flyers were +135 underdogs.
The favoured exact series result is now a Philly sweep at +250, while the biggest long shot is Penguins in six at +1000. I don’t like either of those options. Give me Pittsburgh to win in seven games at +500. This was always destined to be a gritty series that went the distance and I’m not willing to bet against Sidney Crosby in a rivalry matchup.
I also like one game in the series to go to overtime at +135. These teams played to a shootout twice in the regular season, which means three head-to-heads have been decided by one goal this year, counting Game 1 of this playoff series.
Pittsburgh Penguins
The Pens were blanked in Game 2, despite outshooting Philadelphia 27-24, including 13-6 in the third period. Only scoring two total goals through two games is, frankly, shocking for the Penguins. They were the third-highest scoring team during the regular season and they boasted a top-10 power play in the league.
Struggles with the extra man have been a significant factor in Pittsburgh’s dried up offence. The Penguins followed up an 0-for-2 performance on the power play in Game 1 by going scoreless in five Game 2 opportunities. The PP unit was so disjointed, it actually seemed to lead to more offensive opportunities for the Flyers than for the Pens. Officially, Pittsburgh in 0-for-7 on the power play in the series with just three shots on net.
One bright spot has been goaltender Stuart Skinner, who has kept the Penguins in both games. Skinner turned aside 20 of 22 shots in Game 2 and didn’t allow a goal through the first 30 minutes of play.
Philadelphia Flyers
Goaltender Dan Vladar locked things down when he needed to in Game 2, making 27 saves, including 25 in the last two periods. It was Vladar’s first career playoff win (and shutout) and his first shutout this year after starting 51 games in the regular season. The 28-year-old has been stellar this series, with 45 saves on 47 shots (.956 save percentage).
Rookie Porter Martone continues to make his presence known. With only nine career regular season games under his belt, the 19-year-old has scored in both games this series. Martone is only the 12th teenager in NHL history, and first for the Flyers, to score in each of his first two playoff games.
Just like Pittsburgh, Philadelphia’s power play has been non-existent in this series. The Flyers were 0-for-4 on the man advantage in Game 2, brining them to 0-for-7 in the series. Those numbers have to be concerning, albeit not surprising, given Philadelphia had the worst power play in the NHL this year with a 15.2 per cent success rate.
