Metropolitan Division rivals meet on Wednesday night as the New York Rangers visit the Philadelphia Flyers on NBCSN. The Rangers are just a few points back of red-hot Columbus in the division while the Flyers have fallen off the pace and are in 5th place. The Rangers have dominated this series of late taking 7 of the last 10 meetings including the last four. New York won the first meeting of the season by a score of 3-2 in Philadelphia in late November.
Don't miss the ice action from the Wells Fargo Center at 8 p.m. ET on Wednesday, January 4, 2017. Catch every moment of the game live on NBCSN.
We'll have NHL odds at BookMaker.eu available for this and every game on the NHL Wednesday schedule.
Odds Analysis
The Rangers should be listed as slight road favorites in this contest with the total listed at 5 over or 5.5 under. The problem for the Rangers is that this game is the second half of a back-to-back as they were home against Buffalo on Tuesday night. The Rangers are 13-6 on the road this season with 10 going over, 8 going under with one push.
The Flyers have had two days to get ready for this game as they are coming off a shootout loss to Anaheim on Sunday in a game they dominated but still lost. The Flyers are 12-8 at home this season with 9 going over, 6 going under with 5 pushes.
Special Teams
The Rangers have been very good on the power play this season scoring 23.1% of the time which is 4th in the league. The Rangers are scoring 3.4 goals per game. They are giving up 2.5 goals per game which is 9th best in the league and their penalty killing is 8th in the league at 84.1%.
The Flyers have been solid on the power play at 21.7% which is 6th in the league. The Flyers are scoring 2.9 goals per game. The Flyers have been poor in penalty killing at 80.9% and they are just 25th in the league allowing 3 goals per game.
Goalie Report
The Rangers have a solid duo in goal in Henrik Lundqvist and Antti Raanta. Lundqvist is 16-9 with a 2.45 goals against average while Raanta is 10-4 with a 2.28 goals against average.
The Flyers starter is Steve Mason who is 14-17 with a 2.78 goals against average. The backup is Michal Neuvirth who is set to return from injury. He is 4-2 with a 3.54 goals against average. Neuvirth could be on the trade block as rookie Anthony Stolarz has played well as he is 2-0 with a 1.79 goals against average. Mason has been overworked lately playing 21 of the last 23 games.
Free NHL Picks
The Rangers have been winning in this series lately and the games have been going under. The Rangers won 3-2 in Philadelphia earlier this season and New York has now won the last three on the road in this series. The teams have not gone over the total since February of 2015. The teams have had three games go under and three pushes in the last six meetings.
New York has won four of the last six in Philadelphia including the last three with almost every game ending up with a 3-2 final. The Flyers won 3-2 at home in October of 2015 and then it was the Rangers winning by a 3-2 scores twice last season and 3-2 earlier this season.
Normally I would probably be on the Rangers in this spot but I am not thrilled with the fact that they are playing with no rest while the Flyers have had two days off. I will instead follow the trends which point to a low scoring game that goes under the total.
NHL Odds: Rangers 3, Flyers 2
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