Montreal Canadiens (35-35-9) at Philadelphia Flyers (47-22-7)
NHL Hockey: Wednesday, August 19, 2020 at 8:00 pm (Scotiabank Arena)
The Line: Philadelphia Flyers -123 / Montreal Canadiens +111 --- Over/Under: 5 Click Here for the Latest Odds
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The Montreal Canadiens and Philadelphia Flyers meet Wednesday in game five of the NHL East First Round at the Scotiabank Arena.
The Montreal Canadiens need a win here to save their season and force a game six on Friday. The Montreal Canadiens are averaging 2.29 goals per game and are scoring on 13.6 percent of their power play opportunities. Jesperi Kotkaniemi leads Montreal with four goals, Paul Byron has three assists and Brendan Gallagher has 31 shots on goal. Defensively, the Montreal Canadiens are allowing 1.57 goals per game and are killing 87.1 percent of their opponents power plays. Carey Price has given up 10 goals on 214 shots faced.
The Philadelphia Flyers look for a third straight victory to advance to the next playoff series. The Philadelphia Flyers are averaging 2.33 goals per game and are scoring on four percent of their power play opportunities. Scott Laughton leads Philadelphia with three goals, Kevin Hayes has four assists and Philippe Myers has 14 shots on goal. Defensively, the Philadelphia Flyers are allowing 1.5 goals per game and are killing 80 percent of their opponents power plays. Carter Hart has allowed seven goals on 136 shots faced and Brian Elliott has allowed two goals on 23 shots.
The Canadiens are 7-17 in their last 24 Wednesday games and 1-4 in their last 5 games playing on 0 days rest. The Flyers are 4-0 in their last 4 Wednesday games, 37-14 in their last 51 games as a favorite and 35-17 in their last 52 overall. The under is 4-0 in Canadiens last 4 overall. The under is 9-0 in Flyers last 9 overall. The Canadiens are 7-20 in the last 27 meetings in Philadelphia and 4-9 in the last 13 meetings. The under is 4-0 in the last 4 meetings.
The Philadelphia Flyers entered this series a arguably the hottest team in the sport, and they've dominated this series through four games. The Montreal Canadiens haven't been able to find any offensive success and they've been shutout in each of the last two meetings. The Canadiens have scored one or less goals in three of the four meetings against the Flyers. With them facing elimination, it's hard to find something positive for Montreal in hopes of them saving their season. I have to lay the cheap price with the Flyers.
Randy’s Pick Philadelphia Flyers -123
AUTHOR: Randy Chambers
Mitch's Take...
