Flyers vs. Canadiens prediction: NHL odds, picks, bets for Wednesday

The Philadelphia Flyers have been a great team to back as an underdog this season and when you think about their profile, it makes a lot of sense.

Philadelphia doesn’t have a lot of elite skill, but it makes up for it with a tenacious work ethic and a well-structured defense that makes it quite a chore to beat, no matter the opponent.

Just ask Carolina, Edmonton, Vegas, Vancouver, Colorado and Los Angeles, each of whom has lost to the Flyers as a favorite this season.

The flip side to this equation is the Flyers are not all that appealing when they’re a decided favorite.

For all the good work that the Flyers do on a nightly basis, they just don’t have the skill to cash in on the chances they create, which makes them a tricky team to back when they’re laying some wood.

And as strong as the Flyers have played through the majority of the first half of the season, their numbers have dipped of late.

Philadelphia still ranks 13th league-wide in expected goals rate and high-danger scoring chance percentage at five-on-five, but it wasn’t too long ago that the Flyers were hovering around the top 5 in both categories.

For this team to be successful, it needs to win the five-on-five battle.

Like the Flyers, the Montreal Canadiens have been a pesky underdog this season.

• Read our expert guide on how to bet on the NFL

Montreal’s goaltending has been terrific, head coach Martin St. Louis seems to have a knack for getting his team to play hard and the top line of Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield and Juraj Slafkovsky is capable of providing scoring punch for a team that lacks depth.

The Flyers have just one win in their last six games and this seems like a good time to fade them as a favorite vs. the Canadiens, another team that’s been pesky as an underdog on plenty of occasions this season.