After dominating on NHL betting
boards for most of the season, the Philadelphia Flyers collapsed down the
stretch. Now they’ll have to face the red-hot Buffalo Sabres in the first round
of the NHL playoffs. Philadelphia (47-23-12) has just three wins in its past 10 games. The club had lost five consecutive games heading into the regular-season finale. The Flyers came through with a 7-4 win over the Islanders, which clinched the Atlantic Division. The Flyers boast one of the most balanced attacks in the NHL. Seven different
players scored at least 19 goals this season, and five different players notched
50-plus points. It makes stopping Philadelphia extremely difficult, as there
isn’t one or two players—or even lines—you can concentrate on. The Flyers also
get a ton of scoring from their defensemen, with four of them notching 30-plus
points. Goaltending, though, is a big question mark. Philadelphia will head into the
postseason with untested rookie Sergei Bobrovsky in the crease.
Bobrovsky has played well this season, but he was a little shaky down the
stretch, including a brutal four-game effort in April (3.95 GAA, .880 save
percentage). That hardly inspires confidence. Buffalo (43-29-10), on the other hand, is the hottest team in the NHL. The
Sabres are 8-1-1 in their past 10 games, including the current four-game winning
streak. Buffalo’s biggest weapon is Ryan Miller. The American
goaltender had a bit of a down year compared to last season, but that’s to be
expected considering he was nothing short of brilliant last year. Still, Miller
is as good as they get in crunch time, and he’s more than capable of stealing a
series. The Sabres have a very similar attack to Philly, with a bunch of young, quick
forwards sprinkled through the lineup. Thomas Vanek is the most
dangerous threat (32 goals, 73 points this season), but he’s only one of four
players who scored 20-plus goals for Buffalo this season. Buffalo also had 11
different players score 10-plus goals this season. Buffalo and Philadelphia hooked up four times this season. Each team won two
of those games, and they’ve split their past 10 meetings at five wins
apiece. The Flyers have 8/1 odds of
winning the Stanley Cup, according to Bodog's online sportsbook, compared to
Buffalo's 22/1. Get all your NHL betting
lines at Bodog. Always know your odds.
| Kyle Hunter | |
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