The Boston Bruins will serve as the hosts against the Philadelphia Flyers in this battle of the Eastern Conference’s No. 1 and 4 seeds, respectively, in the beginning of Eastern Conference round-robin play at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, ON. The puck will drop at 3 p.m. ET. We analyze the Flyers-Bruins NHL betting odds and lines, with picks and best bets.
Flyers vs. Bruins: Projected starting goalies
Carter Hart vs. Tuukka Rask
Hart followed up his stellar rookie season by going 24-13-3 with a .914 save percentage and 2.42 goals against average across 40 starts and three relief appearances. The 21-year-old will make his Stanley Cup Playoffs debut against the highly-experienced Bruins and Rask.
Rask turned in another elite campaign with a 26-8-6 record across 41 starts. He had a .929 SV% and 2.12 GAA this season and will make his 90th postseason start.
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Flyers vs. Bruins: Odds, picks and betting tips
Odds courtesy of BetMGM; access them at USA TODAY Sports for a full list. Odds last updated Saturday at 5:10 p.m. ET.
Prediction
Bruins 3, Flyers 1
Moneyline (ML)
The BRUINS (-134) blanked the Flyers (+115) 2-0 in what ended up being the final game of the regular season for both teams. The Flyers had previously picked up two shootout victories by scores of 3-2 and 6-5 in the season series.
Boston has a decided edge in postseason experience and its plus-53 goal differential was tops in the NHL. Back the BRUINS (-134) in this round-robin opener as they look to retain their No. 1 seed for Round 1 of the Eastern Conference Playoffs.
New to sports betting? A $10 bet on the Bruins to win returns a profit of $7.46.
Puck Line/Against the Spread (ATS)
The Flyers had a strong offense with an elite top-six forward group this season, but they run thin quickly against the more balanced B’s. The largely inexperienced group also goes up against the wall of Rask.
Rask earned the shutout victory while stopping 36 shots in his lone start against the Flyers in the regular season. Take the BRUINS -1 (+135) and expect a push as a worst-case scenario.
Over/Under (O/U)
Even with Hart’s inexperience, this should be a goaltenders’ battle, and both teams allowed fewer than 200 goals in the regular season. Take the UNDER 5.5 (-125) in a tight affair.
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