Rangers vs. Flyers odds, prediction, pick: Why we're backing Philly to play spoiler before Patrick Kane's debut
While plenty of teams have made their big moves ahead of Friday’s NHL Trade Deadline, the Philadelphia Flyers are still sitting tight. Philadelphia has plenty of players who are likely to be traded like James van Riemsdyk, Justin Braun and Nick Seeler, but the Flyers could surprise the league by moving others like Kevin Hayes, Tony DeAngelo and Ivan Provorov as well.
But for now, John Tortorella will have his team focused on playing the spoiler role against the New York Rangers on the night before Patrick Kane’s debut.
The Flyers are a +176 home underdog on Wednesday night.
Flyers +176 (FanDuel)
After an encouraging 11-5-3 run after the Christmas Break, the Flyers have entered a tailspin. This is not surprising, of course, as Philadelphia was projected to be one of the worst teams in the NHL this season. That said, a 1-6-1 run with a -21 goal differential will not sit well with anybody in the organization, especially the coach.
John Tortorella’s teams are always built on effort and being hard to beat, but that was not the case in a 7-0 trouncing at the hands of the New Jersey Devils. A response is expected from the Flyers against the Rangers, but this is still a mismatch on paper.
But is it enough of a mismatch to justify these odds, which should only get wider as lineup news comes out?
The Rangers are 6-3-1 in their last 10 and should be buoyed by the impending arrival of Patrick Kane, but if you look under the surface there are some reasons to be a bit skeptical of this side. For one, the goaltending has struggled.
Igor Shesterkin is one of the best netminders in the NHL, but he’s going through a bit of a slump right now. The reigning Vezina Trophy winner has skated to an .882 save percentage and a -1.55 Goals Saved Above Expected (GSAx) in his last 10 outings. The Rangers are on the front-end of a back-to-back, so we may see Jaroslav Halak start on Wednesday and his numbers in that timeframe aren’t much better.
The Rangers have continued to get points despite the poor goaltending not because of a sturdy defense, but because of an offense that is shooting 13.4% at 5-on-5 over its last 10 games. The Blueshirts have plenty of offensive talent so a high shooting percentage is not shocking, but it’s hard to envision that number staying that high over the long-term.
Additionally, the Rangers are giving up scoring chances at 5-on-5. Over their last 10 contests, the Blueshirts have given up the 12th-most high-danger scoring chances at 5-on-5. New York always is happy to trade chances, especially with a team like Philadelphia, but with the goaltending struggling it becomes a dicey proposition.
The Flyers, meanwhile, will do everything they can to gum up the works and slow down the Rangers’ transition game. If Philadelphia can do that, this game starts to edge closer to a coin flip.
The numbers and narrative all point in one direction for this game. The Rangers have been on a good run of form for 12 weeks and the Flyers are in a tailspin. But unfortunately these are the moments for bettors where the value is almost always going to be on the struggling team, rather than the high-flying one.
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