The New York Rangers face a tough situation on Sunday, as they will be playing their third game in four days and with no rest, as they host the Philadelphia Flyers on NBC. The Rangers have been a decent home team this season, going 18-13, but this is not a good scheduling spot. On the other side, the Flyers had Saturday off after playing in Columbus on Friday. Let’s look at this Sunday matinee and NHL picks.
At 12 p.m. ET, tune into NBC for live television coverage of this NHL game on Sunday, February 18, 2018, at Madison Square Garden.
We'll have NHL odds at BookMaker.eu available for this and every game on the NHL Sunday schedule.
Odds Analysis
The Flyers are currently in a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference but they have some concern in goal, as Brian Elliott will miss at least the next five weeks due to injury. The Flyers are counting heavily on Michal Neuvirth who has never consistently proven he can stay healthy or play well over long periods of time. Head coach Dave Hakstol said the team has confidence in Neuvirth, but what else can he say? The Flyers will probably have to make a trade for a backup goalie before the Feb. 26 trade deadline. Philadelphia has been said to be looking at Buffalo backup Chad Johnson and Toronto backup Curtis McElhinney. “Neuvy is very capable. He’s played some real good games for us this year, some other ones that haven’t been that great.” Hakstol said, “But if he can get on a roll here and get some consistency and do a good job for us, we will be fine.’’
The Flyers were 14-14 in their first 28 road games, with 14 games going over, 13 going under the total, with one push. They are scoring 2.9 goals per game and giving up 2.8 per contest.
The Rangers are struggling and there is a good chance they will trade a number of players before the deadline. Part of the problem is that their top defensemen are out due to injury, as they are missing Ryan McDonagh (upper-body injury), Kevin Shattenkirk (knee surgery) and Marc Staal (cervical strain). The blue line for New York is simply a mess and the Rangers can’t win consistently without solid play on defense.
The Rangers are 18-13 at home, with 19 games going over the total, 11 going under, with one push. They are scoring 2.9 goals per game and giving up 3 per contest.
Special Teams
The Flyers have been really good on the power play and rotten at penalty killing. They are 6th on the power play at almost 22%, but just 28th in penalty killing at 75%. The Rangers have plenty of problems overall, but their special teams have been decent, as they are 13th on the power play and 10th in penalty killing.
Key Stat
The Rangers have won 7 of the last 10 in this series, including seven of the last eight, with three of the last four going over the total. The Rangers have also won 7 of the last 10 at home in this series, with the last two going over the total. The Rangers won 5-1 at home against the Flyers last month.
Free NHL Picks
There is no question that the Flyers are playing better than the Rangers, but it is really hard to trust Philadelphia with Neuvirth in goal. New York is 4-4 in their last eight games playing with no rest. The last two went over the total. I think the total is where to focus on Sunday, as the Flyers are not that great on defense and New York is having all kinds of issues on the blue line. I will take this game on Sunday afternoon over the total.
NHL Odds: Flyers 4, Rangers 3
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