The New York Islanders carry the 3-1 Round 2 series lead into Game 5 against the Philadelphia Flyers Tuesday. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. ET at Scotiabank Arena in the first of two Stanley Cup Playoffs games on the day. Below, we look at the Islanders-Flyers Game 5 betting odds and lines and make our NHL picks and best bets.
The Islanders can book a ticket to the Eastern Conference Final in Edmonton with a victory.
Islanders vs. Flyers: Projected starting goalies
Semyon Varlamov vs. Carter Hart
Varlamov will return to the crease for the potential series-clinching Game 5 after backup Thomas Greiss started and stopped 36 of 38 shots in the 3-2 Game 4 victory for New York. Varlamov stopped 26 of 27 shots in the Game 3 win, as he bounced back from allowing three goals on just 10 shots in Game 2. He owns a .935 save percentage and 1.69 goals against average since the NHL returned to play with the qualification round.
Hart also received a night off Sunday as backup Brian Elliott drew the start for the second half of the back-to-back. The 22-year-old netminder has allowed three goals in each of his three games in this series and owns a .901 SV%.
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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 at 7:44 a.m. ET.
Prediction
Islanders 3, Flyers 2
Moneyline (ML)
The ISLANDERS (-125) are slight favorites, along with owning -1250 odds to advance to the Eastern Conference Final at some point within the next three games. They’re most likely to do it sooner than later and represent strong value with Game 5’s price.
The Flyers (+105) will be the official home team again Tuesday and will benefit from the advantage of final line changes. The Isles won 4-0 in Game 1 as the road team and took the Flyers to overtime in Game 2. Lean on Varlamov as the better goaltender in the series.
New to sports betting? A $10 on the Islanders to win would return a profit of $8.
Puck Line/Against the Spread (ATS)
The Flyers (-1.5, +230) are the official favorites by the puck line with the Islanders (+1.5, -295) heavily favored to lose by just a single goal or win outright.
New York has won twice in this series by multiple goals so there may be some value in the alternate line of Islanders -1.5 (+230), but the Flyers have their backs against the wall, and I’d rather play it safe with the moneyline and the Over/Under below. PASS.
Over/Under (O/U)
UNDER 5 (-110) is a fine play with a push likely to be the worst-case scenario. Three of the four games have played to a total of 5 or fewer goals.
Place a small wager here and a smaller wager on the exact total of 5 goals (+425).
Esten’s NHL betting record: 50-44-1
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