The Wells Fargo Center will be the site for an East-West showdown as the Philadelphia Flyers square off against the visiting Colorado Avalanche. It’s the last time that the two clubs will go at it in the regular season. The action gets started at 7 p.m. ET on Monday, October 22, and fans at home can watch it live on NBC Sports Philadelphia.
Colorado Avalanche vs. Philadelphia Flyers Odds
Colorado (-105) is currently the underdog to Philadelphia (-115) and the oddsmakers have put the Over/Under (O/U) at 6 goals. The line for betting the total stands at -120 for the over and +100 for the under.
Colorado is 5-3 straight up (SU) and has earned 1.9 units for moneyline bettors this season. That winning percentage, ranked fifth in the NHL so far in this young season, is fairly close to the 43-39 record the team managed during last year’s regular season campaign. Four of its games have gone over the total, while another four have gone under. This 2018-19 Avalanche team is 3-2 SU on the road.
The Avalanche have found the net on 25.8 percent of their power play opportunities thus far. That’s a noticeable improvement from last season, when they were ranked 10th in the league by converting on 21.3 percent of their extra-man advantages. Their penalty kill has also gotten stronger year-over-year, as they’ve gone from successfully defending 83.3 percent of all opponent power plays (ranked third overall last season) to 89.7 percent this year.
For the team as a whole, the Avs have been penalized 5.9 times per game this season. Last year, that number was the mark in the league at 4.0 penalties per game. After serving an average of 9.2 penalty minutes per game a year ago, the team’s been forced to kill penalties for a whopping 13.1 minutes per outing this season.
With a .948 save percentage and 32.8 saves per game, Semyon Varlamov (3-2-2) has been the primary option in goal for Colorado this year. If Colorado chooses to rest him, however, the team may roll with Philipp Grubauer (2-1 record, .925 save percentage, 2.68 goals against average).
The visiting Avalanche will be led by Mikko Rantanen and Nathan MacKinnon. Rantanen (14 points) has tallied two goals and 12 assists this season while MacKinnon has eight goals and six assists to his name through the early stages of the regular season.
Over on the other bench, Philadelphia is 4-4 straight up (SU) and has netted 0.1 units for moneyline bettors this year. Through eight regular season matches, seven of its games have gone over the total, while one has gone under and none have pushed. It’s 2-2 SU as the home team this year.
The Flyers have converted on 19.4 percent of their extra-man advantages this year after scoring on 19.9 percent (ranked 17th in league) last season. They’ve killed off an impressive 70.0 percent of their penalties, a few points lower than the 76.3 percent they posted a year ago (when they were ranked 26th overall).
Philadelphia players have been penalized 5.1 times per game this season, a number that has risen noticeably from the 3.6 penalties per game given up last year. After serving an average of 8.6 penalty minutes per game a year ago, the team has had to stave off opponent power plays for a noteworthy 11.3 minutes per outing this season.
Brian Elliott has stopped 25.2 shots per game as the top choice in goal for the Flyers. Elliott has three wins and three losses to his name and has recorded a pedestrian 3.69 goals against average and a fairly-weak .878 save percentage this year.
The Flyers will be led on offense by Jakub Voracek (three goals, eight assists) and Claude Giroux (three goals, eight assists).
Colorado Avalanche at Philadelphia Flyers Betting Predictions
Free Pick: SU Winner – Flyers, O/U – Over
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Notes
Betting Notes
The total has gone over in four of Philadelphia’s last five outings.
Colorado skaters registered 20.4 hits per game last season, while the Flyers logged 21.6 hits per contest.
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