Wednesday NHL Odds, Pick, Prediction: New Jersey Devils vs. Philadelphia Flyers Betting Preview
Bruce Bennett/Getty Images. Pictured: Cam Atkinson
- The Devils are favored on Wednesday in a matchup of struggling NHL squads.
- Philadelphia has lost nine consecutive games, which led to the firing of head coach Alain Vigneaut on Monday.
- Continue reading below for a full breakdown of this game, including a betting prediction.
Devils vs. Flyers Odds
| Flyers Odds | +135 |
| Devils Odds | -155 |
| Over/Under | 6 |
| Time | 7 p.m. ET |
| TV | ESPN+ |
| Odds via DraftKings. Get up-to-the-minute NHL Odds here. | |
The Philadelphia Flyers will make a quick stop in New Jersey on Wednesday night to begin a three-game road trip.
Philadelphia is riding a nine-game losing streak that dates back to November 18th. As a result, the Flyers have slid far down the standings, sitting in seventh in the Metropolitan with a record of 8-11-4 and 24th overall in the NHL with 20 points.
New Jersey has only been slightly better, entering this matchup with an overall record of 9-9-5. The Devils are also on a losing streak of their own, dropping their last four games.
One of these teams has to end its losing skid on Wednesday, and the last time they faced, the Devils snuck away with a 5-2 victory. Will we see that same outcome in this one, or can Philadelphia figure things out before heading out west to finish its road trip?
Devils Can Create Scoring Opportunities
Although they have gone up against some good teams, the last four games have not been pretty for the Devils.
New Jersey has been outscored 21-10 against the Sharks, Wild, Jets and Senators and is clearly struggling to keep pucks in front of them, which has been a common theme for this team all season.
In 5-on-5 situations, the Devils rank in the bottom half of the NHL in several defensive metrics. They rank 23rd in Expected Goals Against per 60 minutes (xGA/60), have surrendered the 11th-most total goals in 5-on-5 situations with 50 and are allowing 31.7 shots on goal on a per game basis.
Luckily, this team has some talent on the offensive end that can score the puck. Jack Hughes recently returned after a 17-game absence, and the Devils have been getting solid contributions from Jesper Bratt, Andreas Johansson, Dougie Hamilton and Nico Hischier.
In 5-on-5, the Devils are a top-10 team in Expected Goals For per 60 minutes (xGF/60) with 2.49, as well as High Danger Chances For per 60 minutes (HDCF/60) with 12.74. They have been great at creating scoring chances and for the most part have been capitalizing on them. They will likely have plenty of opportunities to continue those trends against a weak Flyers defense.
No starter has been named in net, but MacKenzie Blackwood is expected to get the call. In 5-on-5 situations, Blackwood has an SV % of .909 and -0.1 Goals Saved Above Expected.
Everything Going Wrong For Flyers
The New York Islanders recently went on an 11-game losing streak, and for the most part that headline was doing a good job of overshadowing what is currently happening in Philadelphia.
The Flyers are going down a very similar road to what the Isles just experienced, and it led to the firing of head coach Alain Vigneault on Monday. The firing was immediately met with yet another loss to Colorado, a game in which Philly surrendered seven goals and allowed 50 shots on net.
The defense was atrocious in that game, and when you begin to dive into some stats it becomes clear why this team has lost so many games recently. In 5-on-5 situations, the Flyers rank 32nd in the NHL in Expected Goals Against per 60 minutes with 2.77, 32nd in High Danger Chances Against per 60 minutes, 32nd in shots on goal allowed, and have given up 51 total goals in 5-on-5.
From an offensive standpoint, the Flyers have been equally as bad, only scoring 37 total goals in 5-on-5 situations (fifth-fewest in NHL), and they are scoring just 2.03 goals per 60 minutes.
The defense is essentially non-existent, and the offense has not been nearly good enough to back up the poor play on that end of the ice.
Carter Hart will likely get the start in this one, and even though his record does not show it he has not been bad in net. In 5-on-5 this season, Hart has an SV % of .922 and 5.1 Goals Saved Above Expected.
Flyers vs. Devils Pick
Hart is being left on an island in every game that he plays, and it does not appear things are going to turn around anytime soon. However, the same can be said about whoever is in net for New Jersey.
Philadelphia is giving up an average of 5.8 goals per game in its last five, and New Jersey is not doing much better as it hassurrendered an average of 4.6 goals per game across the last five.
A total of six goals may look a little high, but neither of these teams can play defense and it will likely lead to lots of goals all around. Their last matchup ended with a total of seven goals, and I think there is a good chance we see a similar total in this matchup.
Pick: Total over 6 (-105)
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