Rangers vs Flyers NHL Spread/Handicapping
Flyers Look to Keep Slim Playoff Hopes Alive – Host Rangers Tuesday Night
The Philadelphia Flyers broke out in a big way on Monday night with a 7-3 win over the Montreal Canadiens. In turn they kept their razor-thin playoff hopes alive. The next challenge for the Flyers? A date with the New York Rangers, a team that has won 11 of the last 12 meetings between the two clubs and has looked vastly different since reshaping their lineup at the trade deadline.
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NY Rangers (21-16-0-4) at Philadelphia Flyers (18-21-1-2)
When: 7:30 PM ET, Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Where: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Broadcast: RDS, NBCSN, CSN-PH
Rangers vs. Flyers Betting Lines from betonline.com
New York Rangers -1½ +210 -137 Ov 5 -126
Philadelphia Flyers +1½ -250 +124 Un 5 +114
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The Rangers have won five of their last seven games to firmly plant themselves in the Eastern Conference playoff picture – exactly where the Flyers hope to be in two weeks time.
The New York Rangers have been playing some inspired hockey and it is thanks to one man – Henrik Lundqvist. He has been called upon every night during the Rangers’ 5-1-1 streak allowing just seven goals over that span. In his last two starts he has a 0.94 GAA and .963 save % age with a 29 save shutout over the rival Islanders included. New York, as a result of the recent defensive uptick is in the top third in goals against allowing just 2.24 goals against.
Offensively the Rangers are still struggling to get on track. Last time out was a 1-0 win against the other New York team. In six games with the Rangers, Derick Brassard has a goal and five assists but Michael Del Zotto has just two points in nine games, Dan Girardi has one point in 5 games and Ryan Callahan and Ryan Clowe are pointless in their last three games.
The Rangers success depends on the play of Henrik Lundqvist and based on recent form, New York appears to be in good hands. [ad-4437448]
The Philadelphia Flyers looked dead before Monday night – four straight losses and a total of three goals over that span. Then came their matchup with the Montreal Canadiens in which Claude Giroux and Jakub Voracek each had a goal and two assists and Scott Hartnell snapped an eight-game point drought with his seventh career hat trick for the Flyers. It all resulted in a 7-3 win for Philadelphia.
Was Monday night’s game a sign of things to come or just an aberration? There is no doubt that the Flyers recent goal scoring drought had to turn around. The problem with the team continues to be defense and goaltending.
Despite winning convincingly, Ilya Bryzgalov still gave up three goals on 28 shots – a .893 save % age – right around where he has averaged all season long. Bryzgalov could sit Tuesday in favor of Steve Mason who has looked just OK since being acquired by the Flyers. He is 3-8-1 this season with a 2.75 GAA and .904 save % age.
Betting Prediction
A few trends to consider:
• Under is 54-22-23 in NYR last 99 road games.
• Under is 30-13-17 in NYR last 60 overall.
• Under is 9-4-1 in NYR last 14 vs. Atlantic.
• PHI are 2-9 in their last 11 Tue. games.
• Under is 11-3 in PHI last 14 Tue. games.
• Over is 8-3 in PHI last 11 vs. Atlantic.
• NYR are 11-1 in the last 12 meetings.
Both teams are battling – the Rangers still have a ton of work to do in order to maintain eighth spot in the East while the Flyers have 8 points to make up in their final seven games. The writing is on the wall for Philadelphia – they just caught Montreal on an uncharacteristically bad night Monday. The Rangers absolutely own the Flyers – expect the domination to continue Tuesday night.
Pick: New York Rangers -137
