The Philadelphia Flyers shoot for a 2-0 First-Round series lead over the Montreal Canadiens Friday at 3 p.m. ET at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto. Below, we look at the Canadiens-Flyers betting odds and lines and make our NHL picks and best bets.
Canadiens head coach Claude Julien was taken to the hospital Thursday afternoon with non-COVID-19-related chest pains. Though he’s reportedly in good condition, assistant coach Kirk Muller will take over behind the bench for the remainder of the First Round series.
Canadiens vs. Flyers: Projected starting goalies
Carey Price vs. Carter Hart
Price stopped 29 of 31 shots in the Game 1 loss and now has a .945 save percentage and 1.74 goals against average through five playoff games, including the qualification round upset of the Pittsburgh Penguins. One of the two goals he allowed Wednesday came on the power play.
Hart stopped 27 of 28 shots in the series-opening victory. He celebrated his 22nd birthday Thursday and enters Friday’s contest with a .966 SV% and 1.00 GAA through three games since the NHL’s restart.
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Canadiens vs. Flyers: Odds, picks and betting tips
Odds courtesy of BetMGM; access them at USA TODAY Sports for a full list. Odds last updated at 9 a.m. ET.
Prediction
Flyers 2, Canadiens 1
Moneyline (ML)
The FLYERS (-162) remain relatively big favorites as the top-seeded team in the Eastern Conference following the round-robin tournament. Philly was the better-disciplined team in Game 1 with three minor penalties taken to Montreal’s five. Staying out of the penalty box will remain a key to the series with how well both goalies are playing.
The Canadiens (+135) aren’t offering quite a high enough of a reward for the upset. Price gives them a chance to win every game, but he seems to have found his match in the younger Hart. Stick with the FLYERS (-162).
New to sports betting? A $10 bet on the Flyers to win would return a profit of $6.20. The same bet on the Canadiens would fetch a return of $13.50.
Puck Line/Against the Spread (ATS)
The chalky, but right play, is to take the CANADIENS +1.5 (-209). There’s always the chance the Flyers (-1.5, +170) will create some separation with a late empty-net goal, but based off what we saw in Game 1, Price won’t be allowing them to build multi-goal leads.
There’s a high probability we see overtime in Toronto Friday. Looking at alternate lines for this game, small wagers can be placed on YES (+290) for whether the game will go into OT, as well as FLYERS TO WIN BY 1 (+525).
Over/Under (O/U)
I like the Under 5.5 (-143) so much I’m going back to those alternate lines and taking UNDER 4.5 (+190). These two goalies are two of the safest bets in the entire Stanley Cup Playoffs right now.
Esten’s NHL betting record: 34-26
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