Capitals vs Flyers NHL Line & Handicapping
Rivalry Night in the NHL – Capitals vs. Flyers Wednesday Night
Two Eastern Conference mainstays that find themselves scrapping for every point meet in the City of Brotherly Love Wednesday in a rematch of a lively 5-4 Flyers win over the Capitals in DC on Sunday.
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Washington (29-23-3-7) at Philadelphia (32-24-1-5)
When: 8:00 PM ET, Wednesday, March 5, 2014
Where: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Broadcast: TSN2, NBCSN
Caps vs. Flyers Betting Lines
Washington Capitals +1½ -250 +124 Ov 5½ -110
Philadelphia Flyers -1½ +210 -137 Un 5½ +100
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Both teams made sneaky moves on Monday ahead of the trade deadline – the Caps acquiring Dustin Penner and the Flyers trading for defenseman Andrew MacDonald. Wednesday marks the rubber match of the five game season series – it should be interesting!
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The Washington Capitals know they can’t let points slip away like they did Sunday – giving up a 4-2 lead late and losing 5-4. Dustin Penner was added to hopefully play alongside Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom – to add a little spark to an already good offense.
It’s not like Ovy needs a lot of help – he has three goals and two assists in three games after the Olympic break and has 43 goals on the year! Others around him have been producing as well – Joel Ward and Mike Green have three points in two games, Troy Brouwer has six points in five games and a number of other guys are averaging a point per game.
Washington is 6-2-2 in their last 10 games – the defense has been just as good as the offense. Braden Holtby has been heating up – 4-0-1 in his last five games with a 2.57 GAA and .923 save percentage.
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The Philadelphia Flyers sit two points up on Washington and have to keep the pedal to the metal. They are 7-3-0 in their last 10 games and seem to have climbed out of the hole they were in to start their season.
The Flyers have been money offensively the last month – six wins in seven games in February while averaging 3.43 goals per game. Claude Giroux had three points Sunday, giving him seven goals and eight assists over the past 10 games. He has 10 goals with seven assists in his past 13 meetings with Washington. Wayne Simmonds has been consistently good for this team – 28 points in 27 games and Vincent Lecavalier has perked up with the winner Sunday and three points in his last three games.
The Flyers are lighting it up offensively but like the Capitals could use a little help from their goaltenders. Philadelphia added a quality D-Man Monday which could be a subtle difference.
Dave’s FREE NHL Betting Prediction
A few trends to consider:
• WAS are 1-8 in their last 9 vs. Metropolitan.
• Over is 8-2 in WAS last 10 overall.
• Over is 7-2 in WAS last 9 vs. Eastern Conference.
• Over is 10-1-2 in PHI last 13 vs. Metropolitan.
• Over is 7-2 in PHI last 9 games following a win.
• Over is 23-9-3 in PHI last 35 overall.
• Home team is 6-2 in the last 8 meetings.
• WAS are 3-7 in the last 10 meetings.
I’m looking at the Over in this game – 5 1/2 goals. The Caps surrender 2.89 goals per game and the Flyers give up 2.84 per game. Add in a couple of Hot offenses and the Over is the play.
Pick: Over – 5 1/2 goals
