NHL daily picks: Philadelphia welcomes the hurtin’ Ducks

There were only three NHL games over the past two nights, and none of them stuck out value-wise, so it's been quiet 'round these parts.

Last night's action: Our last column ran on Saturday, when we ended up on the plus-side of the ledger thanks to wins by Philadelphia, Ottawa and Vegas, but losses by Calgary and Arizona derailed what could have been a tasty night.

Tonight's slate:

There's something in this card right off the bat as the Anaheim Ducks travel cross-country to take on the Philadelphia Flyers. The Ducks will have Hampus Lindholm and Ryan Getzlaf back in the lineup, but they lost Cam Fowler, and with Sami Vatanen, Patrick Eaves and Ryan Kesler still on the shelf, Anaheim is not all that good right now. The Flyers are the pick here.

One of these days the Arizona Coyotes are going to score more goals than an opposing team in a given game, and tonight could be that night. The winless 'Yotes head to Brooklyn to take on the Islanders. Even though the author of this here column is an Islanders fan, there is value on the Coyotes (again) and we will play Arizona (again) and keep the bleach nearby (again).

Vancouver is off to a solid 4-3-1 start and has actually done a decent job at driving possession through their first nine games. On the other hand, Minnesota has been one of the worst possession teams in the league through its first six games. The Wild are the better team, but with their injury problems up front, I am having a hard time getting to their number and think the Canucks are a decent play.

For more puck plays, head over and check out Stuckey's breakdown of Carolina vs. Tampa Bay.

Plays: Philadelphia -134, Arizona +172, Vancouver +171

Season to date: 17-20, -0.27u

[Photo: Derik Hamilton, USA Today]

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