The Boston Bruins (2-1-1) play host to the Philadelphia Flyers (3-1-1) for the second time in three days following a 5-4 shootout win Thursday. Saturday’s puck drop at TD Garden will be at 7 p.m. ET. Below, we analyze the Flyers-Bruins NHL odds and lines, with picks and predictions.
Flyers at Bruins: Odds, spread and lines
Odds via BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated at 10:05 a.m. ET.
- Money line: Flyers +130 (bet $100 to win $130) | Bruins -155 (bet $155 to win $100)
- Against the spread/ATS: Flyers +1.5 (-225) | Bruins -1.5 (+180)
- Over/Under: 5.5 (O: -105 | U: -115)
Flyers at Bruins: Projected starting goalies
Carter Hart (2-1-1, .902 SV%, 3.67 GAA) vs. Jaroslav Halak
(0-0-1, .935 SV%, 1.85 GAA)
Hart started the season with back-to-back wins over the rival Pittsburgh Penguins, but he has since allowed 4 goals in a regulation loss to the Buffalo Sabres and another 4 in the shootout loss to the Bruins. He stopped 39 of 43 shots Thursday.
The Bruins are opting for a different strategy and will pivot to Halak after starter Tuukka Rask stopped 22 of 26 shots in Thursday’s shootout win. Halak stopped 29 of 31 shots in an overtime loss to the New Jersey Devils a week ago.
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Flyers at Bruins: Odds, betting lines, predictions and picks
Prediction
Flyers 4, Bruins 3
Money line (ML)
The Bruins outplayed the Flyers by a considerable margin Thursday. They registered 65.48% of all shot attempts at 5-on-5 and had 26 scoring chances to 18 for the Flyers at full strength. Philadelphia was able to score twice in five power-play opportunities with Boston going 1-for-3 with the man advantage.
The differing goaltending strategies will be interesting to see. Teams will grow very familiar with each other throughout this unique 2021 season with plenty of consecutive meetings. Switching up starting goaltenders will be one of the primary ways by which teams can throw a different look at their opponent.
For now, we’ll side with the FLYERS (+130) as a modest underdog play and give the edge to Hart in Game 2
Against the spread (ATS)
PASS on the puck line. There’s plenty of value in the Flyers’ money line play that we don’t need to pay the premium for a single goal of insurance in the event of a loss, even though Thursday’s game went the distance.
There are plenty of injuries on both sides, including Bruins RW David Pastrnak and Flyers C Sean Couturier. The shorthanded rosters could result in a more lopsided result.
Over/Under (O/U)
Due to the mentioned injury reports, which also include Flyers shutdown D Philippe Myers (ribs), we’ll take the OVER 5.5 (-105). The two combined for 9 total goals including the shootout winner Thursday.
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