NHL Betting Picks: New Jersey Devils at Philadelphia Flyers

Added on Jan 07, 2011 by Jack Thurman in

NHL

NHL action on Saturday afternoon features a matchup between one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference against the worst as the Philadelphia Flyers host the New Jersey Devils. Philly has 55 points and is in the mix for the best record in the league, while New Jersey is by far the worst team in the NHL. Devils have only 22 points–or 8 less than the New York Islanders, who have the second lowest point total in the league.

New Jersey Devils at Philadelphia Flyers
January 11, 2011 10:05 AM Pacific

Not much to say about the side handicap in this game–Flyers have been in exceptional form of late, winning 7 of their last 10 and now trailing the Pittsburgh Penguins for the Eastern Conference lead by only a single point. This is their last game until 11/11 so they won’t have a ‘lookahead’ potential and trying to keep pace with the powerful Penguins they need to get the points they can when they can. And they should have no trouble getting them here. Devils are a mess–they’ve got the worst offense in the NHL averaging only 1.72 goals per game. They’re the only team in the league averaging less than 2 goals per game and they trail the #29 scoring offense (Ottawa) by a full half goal a game. The Devils also have the #29 scoring *defense* in the NHL, and are one of only 5 teams allowing more than 3 goals per game. New Jersey has lost 11 of their last 13 games and 14 of their last 16. They’ve lost 9 of their last 10 games by 2+ goals and 12 of 14 by the same margin.

When New Jersey wins, its because they catch opponents in bad scheduling spots–oddly enough they’ve got more wins against teams over .500 than under .500. But Philly won’t overlook them and they’ve dominated head to head play at home dating back to when the Devils were a good team–Flyers have won 8 of 9 on their home ice. Philly was upset by the Devils early this season (another reason they won’t take New Jersey lightly) but their last 4 wins in the series have been by 2+ goals.

We put a lot of emphasis on ‘in season’ head to head matchups for both sides and totals, and these teams faced each other just a few days ago with the Flyers winning 4-2 at New Jersey. Devils are a hard time to play totals with–they’re so bad on both defense and offense you can’t trust them for Overs or Unders–but with the Flyers scoring a lot of goals of late and with the last two ‘in season’ head to head games having 6 and 8 goals scored we’ll play the Over here.

Bet Philadelphia Flyers -1.5 +110 over New Jersey Devils
Bet Philadelphia/New Jersey Over 5 -140