Today’s big Atlantic Division NHL Picks matchup its the Philadelphia Flyers against the New York Rangers in the Big Apple. The Flyers will be looking for their fourth win in a row and if they can pull it off will move past the New York Rangers in the standings. It won’t be easy however as the Flyers have not scored a goal against the Rangers the last two times that they have met. New York backup goaltender Stephen Valiquette has shutout Philadelphia twice for the only two shutouts in his career. The Flyers current three game winning steak can be attributed to an improvement in scoring as they have netted a total of 11 goals in those same games. During their 10 game losing streak they Flyers didn’t score 4 goals in a game once. Goaltending hasn’t been the best for Philadelphia as they rank only 17th in the NHL in goals against. The recent losing streak is apparently weighing on the minds of the public as WagerWeb.com has the flyers listed as a large +180 road underdog on the money line and +1.5/-155 on the puck line.
The New York Rangers are also on a hot NHL Picks streak of their own as they are 6-0-2 in their last 8 games overall including a 4-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes back on Thursday. The Rangers currently hold the third spot in the Atlantic Division only one point in front of Philadelphia. Although goaltender Valiquette has had success versus the Flyers he has made just nine starts this season, posting a 4-3-2 record with a 2.19 goals against average and .915 save percentage. The Rangers will be facing a Philadelphia team whose power play is one of the best in the league as they score on 22.8 % of their opportunities. Fortunately for the Rangers they have given up only two power play goals on 16 chances in their last five games. Apparently prior lack of performance in this category was due to lack of focus as forward Brendan Shanahan eluded to when he stated "We're being smarter," …….. "It was a lack of focus we had in the middle of the season. We're doing those little things right, not taking penalties, a lot of that is good line changes and being good with your stick."
Still it won’t be easy for the Rangers today as they are 4-12 ATS in home games after scoring 4 goals or more in 3 straight games since 1996 while the Flyers are 9-3 ATS in road games after scoring 3 goals or more in 2 straight games this season.
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