In what’s already their final head-to-head matchup of the regular season, the Vegas Golden Knights and the Philadelphia Flyers clash at the Wells Fargo Center for an East-West showdown. The opening face-off takes place at 1 p.m. ET on Saturday, October 13, and it is being televised live on AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain.
Vegas Golden Knights at Philadelphia Flyers Odds
With a -135 moneyline, Philadelphia heads into the contest as the favorite. The line for Vegas sits at +115 and the Over/Under (O/U) has been set at an even 6 goals. The line for betting that total stands at -120 money on the over and +100 on the under.
Philadelphia is 2-2 straight up (SU) and has netted moneyline bettors 0.3 units this year. That early-season winning percentage is a big slide from what the team managed during the 2017-18 season (42-40).
The Flyers have successfully scored on 25.0 percent of their power play opportunities thus far. That’s a big improvement from last season, when they were ranked 17th in the league by scoring on 19.9 percent of their extra-man opportunities. Their penalty kill has fallen off significantly year-over-year as they’ve gone from successfully defending 76.3 percent of opponents’ power plays (ranked 26th overall last season) to 68.4 percent this year.
As a team, the Flyers have been penalized 6.8 times per game this season, a number that’s regressed substantially from the 3.6 penalties per game they were whistled for last year. After serving an average of 8.6 penalty minutes per game a season ago the team has had to kill penalties for a whopping 13.5 minutes per outing this year.
Averaging 31.0 saves per game with a .869 save percentage, Brian Elliott (1-2) has been the most dependable option in goal for Philadelphia this season. If Philadelphia decides to rest him, however, head coach Dave Hakstol might roll with Calvin Pickard (1-0 record, .886 save percentage, 4.03 goals against average).
The Flyers will continue to lean on the leadership via Jakub Voracek and Claude Giroux. Voracek (eight points) has tallied two goals and six assists while Giroux has one goal and five assists to his credit so far in the season’s early going.
Vegas is 1-4 straight up (SU) and has lost 4.3 units for bettors taking the moneyline this year. A total of three of its outings have gone over the total, while two have gone under the total and none have pushed. The Golden Knights are 1-3 SU as an away team this season.
The Knights have recorded a goal on 0.0 percent of their power play chances this year after successfully converting on 21.0 percent of their extra-man opportunities in 2017-18 (a mark that was right at league average). The team has gone from killing off 81.3 percent of opponents’ power plays (ranked ninth overall last season) to 69.2 percent in 2018-19.
Vegas’ skaters have been penalized 3.0 times per game this season, a number that’s improved from the 3.6 penalties per game given up last year. After serving an average of 7.9 penalty minutes per game a year ago, the team has been forced to kill penalties for 6.6 minutes per matchup this season.
Marc-Andre Fleury (3.95 goals against average and .846 save percentage) has been the primary option in goal for Vegas. Fleury is averaging 19.3 saves per game and owns a 1-3 record.
For the visiting Golden Knights, the offense will be facilitated through Jonathan Marchessault (two goals, four assists) and William Karlsson (zero goals, four assists).
Vegas Golden Knights at Philadelphia Flyers Betting Predictions
Free Prediction: SU Winner – Flyers, O/U – Over
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Notes
Betting Trends
Vegas has yet to win a game by two or more goals this season.
Vegas has scored just 2.0 goals per game (while allowing 4.3) over its last three games (0-3 SU over that span).
The Golden Knights are 0-2 SU when they serve more penalty minutes than their opponent while the Flyers are 0-1 SU in games where they serve more minutes than the opposition.
After posting a 4-3 record in games decided by a shootout last year, Vegas is off to a 1-0 start in shootouts this season. Philadelphia went 2-7 in shootouts last year and has yet to participate in one this time around.
The over has hit in four of Philadelphia’s last five games.
Vegas skaters ranked second last year with 10.7 takeaways per game, but the team appears to be applying less pressure on opposing offenses to begin this season. It’s currently ranked 24th with 5.2 takeaways per contest.
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