Sean Couturier, Travis Konecny, and the Philadelphia Flyers will do battle against John Carlson, Alex Ovechkin, and the Washington Capitals at Capital One Arena for a divisional showdown. The match will get underway at 7 p.m. ET on Saturday, February 8 and it can be seen live on NBC Sports Washington.
Philadelphia Flyers at Washington Capitals Odds
Playing the role of favorites will be the Capitals (-190), whereas the Flyers are offering moneyline odds of +165, and the Over/Under (O/U) has been set at 7 goals (-105 for the over, -115 for the under) at PointsBet Sportsbook.
Washington is 36-18 straight up (SU) and has earned 8.3 units for moneyline bettors this year. That winning percentage, the NHL’s strongest so far in the early season, is an improvement compared to what the team managed during last year’s regular season (48-34). Of its 54 games this season, 34 have gone over the total, while 18 have gone under and just two have pushed. The team’s 16-11 SU at home this season.
The Capitals have converted on 20.0 percent of their power play opportunities this year, a mark that’s right around league average. On the other hand, their penalty kill is ranked second overall, and they’ve successfully killed off 84.7 percent of all penalties.
Boasting a .897 save percentage and 25.8 saves per game, Braden Holtby (21 wins, 15 losses, and four OT losses) has been the best goalkeeper for the Caps this season. If head coach Todd Reirden chooses to give him a rest, however, Washington may roll with Ilya Samsonov (16-5-5 record, .923 save percentage, 2.21 goals against average).
On the visitors’ side of the ice, Philadelphia is 29-25 straight up (SU) and has earned 2.8 units for moneyline bettors this season. A total of 27 of its matches have gone over the total, while 26 have gone under the total and just one has pushed. The Flyers are 11-16 SU as the visiting team this season.
The Flyers have converted on 19.0 percent of their power play chances this year, a mark that’s right around league average. On the other hand, its penalty kill unit is ranked 16th overall and it’s successfully killed off 81.0 percent of all penalties.
Carter Hart (2.61 goals against average and .905 save percentage) has been the primary option in goal for Philadelphia. Hart is averaging 22.1 saves per game and has 15 wins, 17 losses, and three OT losses to his credit.
Philadelphia Flyers at Washington Capitals Betting Predictions
Prediction: SU Winner – Flyers, O/U – Over
Betting Trends
The Capitals are 3-2 in games decided by shootout. The Flyers are 5-5 in shootouts.
Philadelphia has managed 27.2 shot attempts per game over its last five road games while Washington has been attempting 31.4 shots per game over its last five at home.
Over Philadelphia’s last ten games, six of them have been decided by two or more goals (the team is 4-2 in those games).
The Caps this season have dished out the seventh-most hits per game in the NHL (24.3).