One of the hottest teams in the NHL travels east to the City of Brotherly Love as the Minnesota Wild take on the Philadelphia Flyers. It’s time to continue our NHL odds series with a Wild-Flyers prediction and pick.
The Wild come into the game as winners of 13 of the last 17 games and on the second game of a road trip. In the last outing, Filip Gustavsson had a career-high in saves and carried the Wild to a 2-1 victory in overtime. The Flyers find themselves in the fifth game of a home stand, in which they have defeated the Panthers and Sabres, but lost to the Hurricanes and Golden Knights. The offense found some rhythm in those two wins, as they scored their highest individual game totals since January 17th. The Flyers will look to keep rolling but will face a Wild team looking to move up in the Western Conference standings on Thursday night.
Here are the Wild-Flyers NHL odds, courtesy of FanDuel
NHL Odds: Wild-Flyers Odds
Minnesota Wilds: -1.5 (+155)
Philadelphia Flyers: +1.5 (-188)
Over: 5.5 (-128)
Under: 5.5 (+104)
How To Watch Wild vs. Flyers
TV: ESPN
Stream: NHLPP / ESPN+
Time: 6:30 PM ET/ 3:30 PM PT
*Watch NHL games LIVE with fuboTV (click for a free trial)*
Why The Wild Could Cover The Spread
The Minnesota Wild come into the game with hot goaltending, quality scoring, and special teams that are heating up. Currently, the Wild sit 13th in Power Play situations, but their 22.5% conversion rate is improving. That could continue in this game, as the Flyers have the fourth worth penalty kill in the league, and have given up goals when a man down in four of the last five games.
Beyond just the Power Play, Minnesota is getting a ton of shots on goal. They are in the top half of the league, and also improving there. They have gotten over 31 shots off in four of the last five games, going 3-1-1 in those games. Goaltending has been a key for the Wild in their latest hot streak. In six of the last seven games, Wild goaltenders have faced over 35 shots, including twice facing 48 shots. They lost the only game under 35 shots against the Coyotes who have been scoring without getting many shots off. The other game was a loss to league-leading Boston.
What could be an undoing for the Wild is puck control. Fenwick percentage helps measure game control by looking at even-strength opportunities. Per Hockey Reference, the Wild have been below 50% in six of their last eight games. Giving the opposition more chances than you have will catch up to the Wild at some point.
Why The Flyers Could Cover The Spread
The Flyers have not won the shots-on-goal battle in their last seven games. They have given up four or more power play opportunities in six of their last seven. Philadelphia has then given up a power-play goal in six of those last seven. They have lost the possession battle in four of them, and the face-off battle in four as well. Yet, with all of that negative, the Flyers still managed to get two wins. Even more for the Flyers’ troubles, there is still no Travis Konecny, the teams leading scorer.
In the win over the Panthers, Carter Hart was fantastic. He had 41 saves on 44 shots and led the team to a victory. Hart has shown recently that he is capable of big performances. In the win over Buffalo, he saved 36 of 38 shots on him and saves 25 of 26 in early March against the Red Wings. Hart is expected to start again tonight, and if he is at the same level he was against Florida, the Flyers will have a chance.
The Flyers also found other players to get the puck in the net against the Flyers. Defenseman Travis Sanheim scored twice, while Ivan Provorov scored his fifth of the year. Joel Farabee got his 12th of the year and also added an assist in the game. The Flyers do not have a dominant scorer or even someone that commands the attention of the opposing defense, so different people will have to produce on different nights. Owen Tippett and Joel Farabee may have to lead the way, but the Flyers are finding ways to get different guys involved, which is good for them overall.
Final Wild-Flyers Prediction & Pick
The Flyers have managed to slow down some high-powered offenses recently, but the penalties are killing them. They have to stay out of the box, and they have not been doing so. If they cannot fix that tonight, the Wild will take advantage. Relying on good goaltending can only take a team so far. Both teams have that trait, but the Wild have the better goaltender and team around the goalie. The Wild can overcome a bad night in the net, but the Flyers cannot. That will be the difference in this one.
Final Wild-Flyers Prediction & Pick: Wild -1.5 (+155)
Follow Us
Subscribe