The New York Islanders take a 2-1 Round 2 lead into Game 4 against the Philadelphia Flyers Sunday at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto. The puck will drop shortly after 8 p.m. ET as the second of three Stanley Cup Playoffs games on the day. Below, we look at the Flyers-Islanders Game 4 betting odds and lines and make our NHL picks and best bets.
Flyers vs. Islanders: Projected starting goalies
Carter Hart vs. Semyon Varlamov
Hart is struggling in this series with three goals allowed in each game. He has now allowed at least two goals in five straight games since recording back-to-back shutouts of the Montreal Canadiens in Round 1. He stopped 26 of 29 shots Saturday in the first half of this back-to-back.
Varlamov rebounded from getting pulled from Game 2 to stop 26 of 27 shots Saturday. He comes into Game 4 with a .935 save percentage and 1.69 goals against average since the NHL returned to play.
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Flyers vs. Islanders: Odds, picks and betting tips
Odds courtesy of BetMGM; access them at USA TODAY Sports for a full list. Odds last updated at 9:35 a.m. ET.
Prediction
Flyers 4, Islanders 2
Moneyline (ML)
Back the FLYERS (+100) once again at even-money to tie up this best-of-seven Round 2 series. The Isles (-118) outshot the Flyers 29-27 Saturday, but Philly recorded 52.5% of the total shots, including blocked and missed shots.
Flyers head coach Alain Vigneault was critical of his team’s top stars following the Game 3 loss, as he tries to spark his team to give Hart some more goal support. Expect a spirited effort with the Eastern Conference’s top seed in danger of being pushed to the brink of elimination.
The Flyers outscored the Islanders 232-192 in just one more regular-season game played.
New to sports betting? A $10 bet on the Flyers to win in regulation or overtime would return a profit of $10.
Puck Line/Against the Spread (ATS)
There’s incredible value on FLYERS -1.5 (+290) on the alternate puck line for them to bounce back and win by 2 or more goals.
Varlamov has been lights out this postseason, but gave up three goals on just 22 shots when starting the second half of a back-to-back against the Florida Panthers in the qualification round. The Flyers have already solved him once when chasing him from Game 2 with three goals on 10 shots in the first period.
Over/Under (O/U)
This game has the lowest projected goal total of Sunday’s three-game slate at an even 5. Go to the alternate lines once again and get the half-goal hook and back OVER 5.5 (+155). Both goaltenders will be a little shakier on the second half of the back-to-back.
Esten’s NHL betting record: 50-41-1
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