Puck Picks
YTD Record —— 102-142-2 (+5.9 Units)
Vegas Golden Knights vs Philadelphia Flyers
How about these Philadelphia Flyers folks?!
Fresh off the heels of helping us cash a juicy +200 ML ticket on Wednesday evening against the Hurricanes the Flyers welcome the defending Stanley Cup champions Vegas Golden Knights to town for a matinee affair that feels unlikely to draw many eyeballs down in the United States. With a full slate of college football to focus on one could hardly blame the casual hockey fan south of the Border for missing this one, but at this point, anytime the Flyers play I’m going to have some interest. The reason being —— Philly might honestly be the most shocking team in terms of performance relative to expectations in all of hockey right now.
Coming into the year the Flyers were more or less written into being amongst the first teams to pick in next year's draft, and the new GM Daniel Brierre more or less said as much over the offseason. Talks of a long-term vision and the need for patience were omnipresent anytime the Brierre spoke, and perhaps that will come to be over the next 65+ games, but for now, the Flyers are playing some damn good hockey. Only two teams in the NHL enter today’s action allowing fewer shots than the Flyers, and Philly’s 54.79% expected goals share is good for the 8th best mark in hockey. Torts has this team fully bought into playing his brand of hockey, and it is working. Couturier is back to being an elite two-way center, and the promotion and improvements of the young guys like Tippet and Frost up front give this attack the type of skill and speed you need to win games in the NHL. Moreover, the goaltending that Carter Hart provides on a nightly basis gives this team a chance almost every night they step out on the ice.
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