The Tampa Bay Lightning (26-13-4) visit the Philadelphia Flyers (23-15-6) at Wells Fargo Center Saturday for a 7 p.m. ET puck drop. We analyze the Lightning-Flyers sports betting odds and lines, while providing NHL betting tips and picks around this matchup.
Lightning at Flyers: Projected starting goalies
Andrei Vasilevskiy vs. Carter Hart
Vasilevskiy enters the day on a personal seven-game winning streak, which has improved his season record to 21-9-2 through 32 games. He has a .913 save percentage and 2.66 goals against average.
Hart stopped 26 of 28 shots in a win over the Washington Capitals Wednesday. He is 14-10-3 for the season with a .906 SV% and 2.58 GAA. He has been nearly automatic at home with a .945 SV% and 1.52 GAA.
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Lightning at Flyers: Odds, picks and betting tips
Odds courtesy of BetMGM; access them at USA TODAY Sports for a full set of today’s betting odds. Odds last updated at 10:45 a.m. ET.
Prediction
Flyers 2, Lightning 1
Moneyline (ML)
The Lightning (-154) have won a season-high nine straight games, most recently beating the Arizona Coyotes 4-0 Thursday in the team’s first shutout victory of the season. The FLYERS (+125) are attractive home underdogs, due largely to Hart’s incredible home splits. Philly’s last game was the 3-2 win over the Capitals Wednesday, which improved the Flyers’ home record to 14-2-4 for the campaign.
Take the value on the home team as the books and public put too much respect on teams with long winning streaks. This is the first head-to-head meeting of the season.
New to sports betting? A $10 bet on the Flyers to win in regulation, overtime or a shootout returns a profit of $12.50.
Puck Line/Against the Spread (ATS)
The FLYERS (+1.5, -208) can also be backed on the spread for one goal of insurance in the event of a loss. I much prefer the more profitable moneyline play to the chalk involved in the puck line, but the price is still higher than it should be and returns an adequate $4.08 on a $10 bet.
Philly is 23-21 against the spread overall but 13-7 at home. The Lightning are just 18-25 ATS overall and 9-11 on the road.
Over/Under (O/U)
Take the UNDER 6.5 (-139) on a high number. Vasilevskiy is back to his Vezina Trophy form, and Hart’s one of the best goalies in the NHL when at home.
Esten’s NHL betting record: 160-145
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