The Montreal Canadiens and Philadelphia Flyers are 1-1 in the best of seven in the Eastern Conference Semi-finals. Both teams are playing extremely tough dirty hockey, is there any other type? Now the Flyers are on home ice and oddsmakers at Betway.com have the Flyers as 2.25 favs over the Canadiens 2.55 with the over/under posted at 5 ½ goals. Get your NHL Playoff Prediction in now at Betway.com
A big reason for Saturdays 4-2 win over the Canadiens was the outstanding goaltending of rookie Martin Biron. He made 34 saves giving him a 5-4 SU record with a 2.73 GAA in his first playoffs. He made a great glove save on a breakaway by Tomas Plekanec that will be seen on all the sports highlight shows. The Flyers offense got goals from R.J. Umberger (2), Jeff Carter and Daniel Briere. They only had 23 shots on net compared to the Canadiens 36. They are averaging 2.80 GAG during their last five and their power play has a goal or better in seven games, unfortunately so does their penalty kill. They are 2-1 SU at home in the playoffs. Daniel Briere leads his team, and the NHL, with seven playoff goals and five assists and Vaclav Prospal is second with 10 points.
The Canadiens were clearly frustrated during the game. Tom Kostopoulos intentionally threw a blindside punch at defenseman Kimmo Timonen after R.J. Umberger scored for Philadelphia. Kostopoulos said he was reacting to Timonen smiling at him as he skated away after the goal; he was given a roughing minor. Goalie Carey Price hasn’t been his usual self lately, he 5-4 SU and is 2-3 SU in his last five starts for a 3.40 GAA. Their defense has allowed a goal in each game on the penalty kill while their power play has a goal in each game. Saku Koivu and Andrei Markov were the lone scorer’s last game. The Canadiens are 1-2 SU during their last three playoff road games. Alexei Kovalev and Andrei Kostitsyn each have four goals, while Kovalev is the top producer with 9 points.
Recent Trends to Consider
- Flyers are 7-1 in their last 8 home games.
- Flyers are 6-1 in their last 7 games as a favorite.
- Flyers are 5-1 in their last 6 games as a home favorite.
- Over is 4-0-1 in Canadiens last 5 overall.
- Over is 4-0-1 in Canadiens last 5 vs. Eastern Conference
- Over is 5-0 in Flyers last 5 playoff games as a favorite.
- Over is 4-0 in Flyers last 4 Conference Semifinals games.
GAME: Montreal Canadiens (52-28-5-6) at Philadelphia Flyers (47-32-6-6)
DATE/TIME: Monday, April 28 – 7:00 PM EST
LINE: Betway.com TOTAL: 5.5
PICK: Over 5 ½
The Bottom Line: You never know which Flyers and Canadiens team will show up, not to mention which goalie will show up for each team. Safe bet here is to go with the over, the last three meetings have been over. Get your NHL Playoff Prediction in now at Betway.com
