Posted on
5/9/2008 2:41:19 PM
NHL Online Hockey Betting Free Picks - Flyers @ Penguins
By Dave Golokhov
The Philadelphia Flyers, who were battling the red hot Boston Bruins and sports betting flop Toronto Maple Leafs for their playoff lives prior to the start of the online betting postseason, were definitely not supposed to be here.
If you recall, on the last day of the season, the Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins squared off in a game – that some people and coaches are alleging – that the Penguins threw in order to avoid the Flyers in the first round and instead, face the Ottawa Senators.
If that was in fact the plan, it worked for Pittsburgh. They swept Ottawa in the opening round and afterwards tossed aside the New York Rangers in five games. But the Penguins can no longer avoid the team that they allegedly preferred not to face in the opening round.
The Flyers, though, also benefited from not facing the Penguins in the opening round. Instead, the Flyers played the Washington Capitals, a young team they had better matchups with. They topped the Capitals in an entertaining seven-game series and afterwards – surprisingly – handled the Montreal Canadiens in five games.
The fact that the Flyers dominated the Eastern Conference’s best team so easily has definitely caught the attention of the Penguins. They won’t be taking anyone lightly in the coming round. Pittsburgh is 0-3 lifetime against the Flyers in the playoffs.
But if there’s one thing that we learned about the Penguins in the previous round, it is that their offense is tough to stop. The Pens have only lost one game in the playoffs.
They roll four lines and get production from all of them. Ryan Malone, Evgeni Malkin and Petr Sykora are on the first line, Pascal Dupuis, Sidney Crosby and Marian Hossa are on the second line, Jarko Ruutu, Jordan Staal and Tyler Kennedy are the third line while Gary Robers, Adam Hall and Georges Laraque are a pesky fourth line.
The Penguins potted an average of 3.75 goals in their four wins against Henrik Lundqvist, who looked like a brick wall in the opening round. Martin Biron, although he’s playing well, isn’t considered to be of Lundqvist’s caliber.
The biggest blow for the Flyers might be an unexpected injury that could easily change the outcome of this series. All-Star Kimmo Timonen will be out indefinitely with a foot injury and likely will miss the entire series.
Timonen is the Flyers best puck-moving defenseman and the teams anchor on the power play. He’s also smart in his own zone and chews up a large chunk of minutes every game.
The battle of Pennsvylvania should be a tight one that will last six or seven games but the Penguins are too much to handle for the Flyers defensively.
Free Pick: Pittsburgh -220
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