Montreal Canadiens (34-33-9) at Philadelphia Flyers (45-21-7)
NHL Hockey: Friday, August 14, 2020 at 3:00 pm (Scotiabank Arena)
The Line: Philadelphia Flyers -155 / Montreal Canadiens +135 --- Over/Under: 5.5 Click Here for the Latest Odds
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The Montreal Canadiens and Philadelphia Flyers meet Friday in game two of the NHL East First Round at the Scotiabank Arena.
The Montreal Canadiens need a bounce back showing here to even up the series at 1-1. The Montreal Canadiens are averaging 2.2 goals per game and are scoring on 7.7 percent of their power play opportunities. Shea Weber leads Montreal with three goals, Paul Byron has three assists and Brendan Gallagher has 24 shots on goal. Defensively, the Montreal Canadiens are allowing two goals per game and are killing 80 percent of their opponents power plays. Carey Price has given up nine goals on 164 shots faced.
The Philadelphia Flyers have a chance at a victory to take a 2-0 series lead. The Philadelphia Flyers are averaging 3.25 goals per game and are scoring on 7.1 percent of their power play opportunities. Scott Laughton leads Philadelphia with three goals, Kevin Hayes has four assists and Claude Giroux has 10 shots on goal. Defensively, the Philadelphia Flyers are allowing one goal per game and are killing 81.8 percent of their opponents power plays. Carter Hart has allowed three goals on 87 shots faced and Brian Elliott has allowed one goal on 17 shots.
The Canadiens are 10-3 in their last 13 Friday games, 5-2 in their last 7 vs. Metropolitan and 0-4 in their last 4 Conference Quarterfinals games. The Flyers are 13-3 in their last 16 games following a win, 37-14 in their last 51 games as a favorite and 35-17 in their last 52 overall. The under is 4-1 in Canadiens last 5 overall. The under is 7-0 in Flyers last 7 overall. The Canadiens are 6-20 in the last 26 meetings in Philadelphia and 3-8 in the last 11 meetings.
The Philadelphia Flyers have been a tough team to bet against lately, as they've been on fire over the last couple of months of play and continue to find ways to win games. However, game one could have gone either way, and past meetings overall have been tight, including four of the last nine meetings needing overtime to be decided. Price looks good in net, and the Canadiens are going to like their chances as long as he continues to get stops. The offense will catch up eventually. In almost a must win game, I'll take a shot with Montreal and the plus money.
Randy’s Pick Montreal Canadiens +135
AUTHOR: Randy Chambers
Follow Randy Chambers on Twitter @WizardOf0dds