The Philadelphia Flyers and New York Islanders play Game 1 of their Eastern Conference Second-Round series Monday at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. ET as the first of two Stanley Cup Playoffs games on the day. Below, we look at the Islanders-Flyers betting odds and lines and make our NHL picks and best bets.
Islanders vs. Flyers: Projected starting goalies
Semyon Varlamov vs. Carter Hart
Varlamov is 7-2 with a .934 save percentage and 1.67 goals against average this postseason, including the qualification round. He’s coming off a 21-save shutout of the Washington Capitals in Game 5 of the Isles’ opening-round series win. He has not had to face 30 or more shots in any of his nine games.
The 22-year-old Hart is 6-2 with a .943 SV% and 1.71 GAA. He recorded shutouts in back-to-back games against the Montreal Canadiens last round. He faced the rival Islanders just once this season and allowed five goals on 14 shots in a loss.
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Islanders vs. Flyers: Odds, picks and betting tips
Odds courtesy of BetMGM; access them at USA TODAY Sports for a full list. Odds last updated Monday at 7:55 a.m. ET.
Prediction
Flyers 3, Islanders 1
Moneyline (ML)
Take the higher-seeded FLYERS (-115) at what’s likely to be their best moneyline price of the series. The Islanders (-106) won all three meetings with the Flyers in the regular season, but Philadelphia was on the second half of a back-to-back in all three of those games.
Philly scored 40 more goals and allowed just three more goals than New York in one more regular-season game played. The Flyers also finished the regular season ranked ninth in the NHL with a 51.02% Corsi For rating (percentage of total shot attempts including blocked and missed shots) at 5-on-5. The Islanders were 29th by the same measure at 46.45%.
Puck Line/Against the Spread (ATS)
Double down on the FLYERS -1.5 (+240) for an increased profit with a win by two or more goals. These Game 1 lines seem heavily skewed by the results of the regular-season series. Hart appeared in just one of those games and the Flyers enter a head-to-head meeting with nearly 72 hours of rest for the first time this season.
The Flyers won all three of their Eastern Conference round-robin games by two or more goals before failing to do so once in their series against Montreal. Look for their offense to bounce back while not having to go up against former Hart Trophy-winning G Carey Price.
New to sports betting? A $10 bet on the Flyers to win by two or more goals would return a profit of $24.
Over/Under (O/U)
I lean to the UNDER 5 (-110) in a battle of two excellent goaltenders who’ve had multiple days of rest. All three of the regular-season meetings played to the Over on Monday’s projected goal total, but the Isles played to the Under or a push in each of their last three games. The Flyers hit the Under or push in five of their six games against the Canadiens.
Esten’s NHL betting record: 46-37-1
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