posted May 9, 2008 at 15:39 in NHL Free Picks

Philadelphia Flyers (42-29-11) vs. Pittsburgh Penguins (47-27-8)

Friday, May 9th --- Mellon Arena, Pittsburgh --- 7:30pm EST

NHL Betting Line: Pittsburgh -175

If we’ve learned anything during these sports betting playoffs, it’s that the regular season means next to nothing now. The Rangers owned the regular season series against Pittsburgh and look what happened there. The Canadiens dominated Philadelphia throughout the year, only to get thrown out of the playoffs by Lady Luck. What does that mean for the Flyers, who went 5-3 SU this season against Pittsburgh?

The Flyers have been startling during the online betting post season, notching 3.02 goals per game on offense. Of course, Daniel Briere who has 14 points (8 goals, 6 assists) and has been tearing teams up with his speedy skating. But don’t sleep on R.J Umberger, who has 9 goals. Most of those are on lucky bounces, but hey – you have to be good to be lucky and lucky to be good. Or is it the other way around? I don’t care.

Pittsburgh has not only played well, they’ve been crushing good teams. The cake walked past the Senators, who couldn’t score a goal to save their series. Then they man handled the New York Rangers, a team that was designed to handle a team like Pittsburgh. All the doubters (such as myself) gave Pittsburgh a hard time for not protecting their net.

Well now they are, and look at the results. A goals against average of 2.63 and Marc Andre-Fleury looking like a brick wall in net has everyone in Pittsburgh excited about the Stanley Cup. And when you have The Next One (Sidney Crosby) and Evgeni Malkin burning down the opposition’s net, it would be utter insanity to bet against Pittsburgh. Especially in the Igloo.

The Pens are vicious at home, going 8-1 SU in their last 9 home games. On top of that, Philadelphia is 5-11 SU in their last 16 games when visiting the Steel City. The total has pushed the OVER in 5-of-6 when Philly visits their Pennsylvania nemesis, and with the Flyers notching lucky goals throughout these playoffs, the OVER is a relatively safe bet.

This is Pittsburgh’s series to lose, and while it might be easy to say that they will succumb to Game 1 jitters, it’s also unreasonable to say that this team has showed any sign of letting the pressure get to them. Because of that, the value on the puck line is phenomenal. However, I would stick with the moneyline until we see this series in action.

Ignore the regular season record. Philadelphia’s luck is about to run out.

NHL Betting Free Pick: Pittsburgh -175 (OVER)

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