Neither the Philadelphia Flyers nor New York Rangers would make the playoffs as things stand in the NHL as they meet on Tuesday night on national TV. The Rangers are slight NHL odds favorites at our online sportsbook and catch a break with Philly on the second half of a back-to-back.
How to Bet Flyers vs Rangers NHL Week 18 Odds & Game Info
Carter Hart became the first goaltender in @NHLFlyers franchise history to post a four-game win streak prior to his 21st birthday. #NHLStats #WPGvsPHI pic.twitter.com/0icS0zs1Br
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) 29 de enero de 2019
- When: Tuesday, 7:30 PM ET
- Where: Madison Square Garden
- TV: NBC Sports Network
- Live Stream: NHL.tv
- Radio: TuneIn
- NHL Week 18 Odds: NY Rangers -130 / Philadelphia Flyers +110 (Total 6.5)
Season Series
Flyers lead 2-0. On Nov. 23 in Philly, the Flyers prevailed 4-0. Sean Couturier scored a pair of goals, and Calvin Pickard made 31 saves in the shutout. Travis Konecny had a goal, two assists and got into a fight, Jordan Weal scored an empty-net goal and Claude Giroux had three assists for Philadelphia. The Flyers scored three goals in the final five minutes, 21 seconds.
Philadelphia had a whopping 46 shots against Henrik Lundqvist.
On Dec. 23, the Rangers were 3-2 home shootout losers. Nolan Patrick scored the lone goal against Lundqvist in a shootout that lasted four rounds. Michael Raffl and Wayne Simmonds scored in regulation, and Michal Neuvirth made 32 saves. Chris Kreider and Boo Nieves scored for the Rangers. Lundqvist stopped 28 shots.
Why Bet on Philadelphia?
Good-looking young goalie Carter Hurt started Monday, and the team plans to keep him with the big club for the rest of the season. He’s the future. Anthony Stolarz will be between the pipes Tuesday against the New York Rangers. Stolarz has a 2-3-2 record this year at the NHL level with a 3.90 goals-against average and .880 save percentage over nine appearances.
The NHL trade deadline is approaching and the Flyers figure to be sellers. GM Chuck Fletcher expects to have a better idea of what to do with Wayne Simmonds in the next few weeks. Simmonds can become an unrestricted free agent in July after his six-year deal worth an average annual value of $3.97 million expires.
“I’ve had several conversations with Wayne and more importantly with his representation, had some meetings with them,” Fletcher said. “We all know where we stand, and I can’t really predict how it’s going to play out. But in the next few weeks, we’ll have to resolve it one way or the other.”
After playing their first 48 games of the season over the span of 115 days, the Flyers will play their final 34 games over the span of just 76 days. The Flyers continue to operate as the NHL’s best faceoff team with a 56.2 percent rating. The Flyers have three players above 58 percent on the season.
Among 148 players that have taken 200 or more faceoffs this year, Scott Laughton is third in the league, Claude Giroux fourth and Sean Couturier sixth. The Flyers’ best faceoff season in the 20 seasons since the NHL started tracking the stat was in 1998-99 when they were 55.4 percent on draws as a team. The best team faceoff percentage for an entire campaign was Boston’s 2012-13 season, when they were 56.4 percent in the 48-game shortened season; the best full 82-game season percentage was Carolina’s 2001-02 team, which was 56.1.
The Flyers’ penalty kill has operated at 83.5 percent over the last 27 games (66 for 79). In that timeframe, which is since Thanksgiving, the PK ranks 10th in the NHL. That comes after the PK went 68.5 percent (50 for 73) on the PK in the first 21 games of the season.
Team Stats
Offense- Goals: 2.90
- Shots: 31.08
- PP/PK Percentage: 13.10
Defense
- Goals: 3.47
- Shots: 30.63
- PP/PK Percentage: 23.87
Why Bet on NY Rangers?
The Blueshirts entered the All-Star break on a three-game winning streak. Henrik Lundqvist stopped all six shots he faced as the Metropolitan Division beat the Central Division 10-5 to be crowned winners of the All-Star Game over the weekend. Lundqvist put in an MVP-like performance in the final game, getting edged out by Sidney Crosby for the honor. King Henrik won the save streak event during the skills competition.
Kevin Hayes (upper body) is expected to return to the Rangers lineup Tuesday when they take on the Flyers. Hayes has been out the last four weeks with an upper-body injury. Hayes is a UFA-to-be and it looks like the Rangers are going to trade him as there have not been negotiations between the two sides although the Rangers and Hayes’ agent have been in contact. Hayes has 10 goals and 33 points in 39 games this season.
Neal Pionk also might play. At practice Monday, Pionk was on skates for the first time since logging 19:53 against Columbus on Jan. 13, during which he was trying to play through an injury of his own. In all, the 23-year-old sat out four of the last five games before the break with the lower-body injury. Pionk leads the Rangers in ice time at 22:42 per game.
Mats Zuccarello is out Tuesday because of a foot infection. Zuccarello was not the ice for Monday’s practice due to the issue. Zuccarello isn’t having the best of seasons with eight goals and 24 points in 35 contests, but he’s been on fire lately with nine points in his last five games.
Mika Zibanejad will play on Tuesday night after leaving Monday’s practice early. Zibanejad went down after shooting the puck during a power-play drill, but coach David Quinn said afterward that the Rangers forward is fine. Zibanejad recently became just the second player in Rangers history to score the winning goal in three consecutive games (the other is Rod Gilbert).
Team Stats
Offense- Goals: 2.90
- Shots: 28.02
- PP/PK Percentage: 20.74
Defense
- Goals: 3.42
- Shots: 33.31
- PP/PK Percentage: 23.03
Flyers vs Rangers NHL Week 18 Betting Trends
- Home team is 5-2 in the last 7 meetings
- Philadelphia is 5-0 ATS in the last 5 games
- Philadelphia is 1-6 SU in the last 7 games on the road
- The total went UNDER in 7 of Philadelphia’s last 10 games on the road
- NY is 4-2 ATS in the last 6 games
- NY is 8-15 SU in the last 23 games
- The total went OVER in 15 of NY Rangers’ last 22 games
Expert NHL Betting Prediction for Flyers vs Tangers
Philadelphia Flyers 2 – New York Rangers 4
