Two teams on the playoff bubble in their respective conferences meet on Monday night on NBCSN as the St. Louis Blues visit the Philadelphia Flyers. The Blues recently fired head coach Ken Hitchcock and gave Mike Yeo the job a little early as he was the coach in waiting but unless St. Louis gets better play on defense and in goal it won’t matter the coach is. On the other side, the Flyers have been inconsistent and really don’t look like a playoff team, but the Eastern Conference is so top heavy that they are still very much in contention.
At 7 p.m. ET, tune into NBCSN for live television coverage of this NHL game on Monday, February 6, 2017, at the Wells Fargo Center.
We'll have NHL odds at BookMaker.eu available for this and every game on the NHL Monday schedule.
Odds Analysis
This is the start of a five-game road trip for the Blues and they come in with just one day off as they were home vs. Pittsburgh on Saturday and then off on Sunday. The Blues are just 8-14 on the road this season with 11 games going over the total, 10 going under with 1 push.
The Flyers are in a better spot as this is the third game of a five-game homestand. Philadelphia played the Kings on Saturday and then had Sunday off. The Flyers are 15-10 at home this season with 12 games going over, 7 going under with 6 pushes.
Coaching Angle
The Blues could look differently now that they are coached by Yeo instead of Hitchcock. General manager Doug Armstrong said that he was upset with how the players had responded under Hitchcock so he made the change to Yeo. “I think we’ve let our group become independent contractors,” Armstrong said, “One of the things I’ve learned about being around St. Louis is the Cardinals. They don’t have independent contractors; when they do, they get rid of them.”
The players definitely feel the pressure. “It’s going to be a bit of a fresh start for us moving forward but as players, we have to look at ourselves in the mirrors, too,” defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk said. “This isn’t just a coaching problem. This is something we have to fix in the locker room.”
The Blues should be a team that plays lower scoring games for a little while as the players tighten up defensively and allow fewer chances under Yeo. Taking St. Louis games under the total in the next week or so could be the way to go.
Goalie Report
You can’t talk about the Blues and the Flyers without mentioning the poor goaltending by each team. The Blues have not gotten anything out of Jake Allen this season as he is 17-16 with a 2.87 goals against average. Backup Carter Hutton hasn’t been much better as he is 7-9 with a 2.81 goals against average.
The Flyers have two goaltenders with similar numbers as Steve Mason is 16-22 with a 2.90 goals against average while Michal Neuvirth is 7-4 with a 3.17 goals against average.
Free NHL Picks
These teams met in late December in St. Louis and the Blues won by a score of 6-3. The teams have split their last ten meetings with the last three going over the total. It has been a home team series as the Flyers have won 8 of the last 10 at home in this series with three of the last five going under the total.
The Blues haven’t been that good on the road but now they have a new head coach and they are facing a lot of pressure to produce. The problem with backing St. Louis is that they have really struggled in this series on the road in Philadelphia. I will avoid a side and just take the game under the total.
NHL Odds: Flyers 3, Blues 2
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