Montreal Canadiens at Philadelphia Flyers NHL Picks & Predictions 2/8/2018

Thursday, February 8, 2018

Wells Fargo Center

Get todays NHL hockey odds on this game.

The Montreal Canadiens head to Wells Fargo Center to take on the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday, February 8, 2018. The opening line for this contest has the Canadiens at +131 and the Flyers at -145.

Montreal has a record of 22-25-6 this year and away from home they have a record of 8-15-1-1. They are 6th in the Atlantic Division. They have tallied 139 goals and surrendered 164 goals for a point differential of -25. For the year they have an ATS mark of 22-31-0 and an over/under record of 22-29-0. Philadelphia has a record of 25-19-9 including 13-9-5-2 on home ice this year. They are 4th in the Metropolitan Division. They've scored 152 goals and have given up 155 for a goal differential of -3. Their record against the spread is 25-28-0 while their over/under mark is 28-23-0.

Valuable Montreal Canadiens Betting Trends

The Montreal Canadiens are 22-31-0 straight up this year

The Montreal Canadiens are 22-29-0 against the over/under this season

Important Philadelphia Flyers Betting Trends

The Philadelphia Flyers are 25-28-0 straight up this year

The Philadelphia Flyers are 28-23-0 against the over/under this season

Key Montreal Canadiens Injuries

12/18/17 D Shea Weber Foot IR (12/17)
10/22/17 RW Ales Hemsky Concussion IR (10/20)
01/25/18 LW Phillip Danault Concussion IR (01/12)
01/15/18 RW Andrew Shaw Lower Body IR (01/14)

Key Philadelphia Flyers Injuries

10/15/17 GO Anthony Stolarz Knee IR (10/03)

Player Spotlight

Brendan Gallagher has scored 30 total points this year for the Canadiens. He has 18 goals this season with 170 shots on net, giving him a shooting percentage of 11%. He has a total of 12 assists on the year and averages 15.5 minutes played per contest. Max Pacioretty averages 19.1 minutes of ice time per game this season. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 8% by tallying 16 goals on 191 attempts. He has 17 assists, giving him a total of 33 points on the year. Carey Price has 15 wins and 19 losses this season in goal for the Canadiens. He has 1,155 shots against him and he's surrendered 107 goals. He's made 1,048 stops for a save percentage of 91%.

Player Spotlight

Claude Giroux has 58 total points this season for the Flyers. He has 15 goals this year with 112 shots on goal, giving him a shooting percentage of 13%. He has a total of 43 assists on the year and averages 20.5 minutes played per contest. Jakub Voracek averages 19.7 minutes of ice time per contest. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 7% by scoring 10 goals on 155 attempts. He has 52 assists, giving him a total of 62 points on the year. Brian Elliott has 20 wins and 11 losses this season in net for the Flyers. He has 1,134 shots against him and he's given up 103 goals. He's made 1,031 saves for a save percentage of 91%.

Useful Team Statistics

The Canadiens have 50 total points this year, which is 27th in the NHL. They've scored 139 goals while giving up 164 scores, which has them ranked 26th and 9th respectively. They have had 161 power play chances and scored 35 goals on those opportunities for a percentage of 22%. That is 7th in the league. The Canadiens have given up 168 power play opportunities and surrendered 36 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 79%, ranking them 23rd when short-handed. They average 34 shots per contest and as a team shoot 7.80% for the year. They allow 32 shot attempts to their opposition per game and have a team save percentage of 90%, which is 23rd in the league.

Useful Team Statistics

The Flyers are 18th in the league with a total of 59 points this season. They have 37 power play goals on 181 chances for a percentage of 20%. That is 15th in the NHL. They've given up 163 power play opportunities and surrendered 42 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 74%, ranking 29th overall. As a team, the Flyers are 19th with a total of 152 goals scored while they've given up 155 goals this season, ranking 14th in goals against. They average 32 shots per game and have a team shooting percentage of 9.05%. As a unit they give up 30 shots per contest and have a save percentage of 91%, putting them 22nd overall in the NHL.

Advanced Statistics

Montreal has a Corsi percentage of 50.5% as they've tried 3,278 shots on goal while at full strength while they have surrendered 3,217 shots on net when they have a full team on the ice. That ranks them 12th in Corsi percentage. They are 12th in the NHL in Fenwick percentage with 50.8% as they have 2,391 shots while they've given up 2,319 attempts on defense. The Canadiens start possessions in the offensive zone 52.4% of the time while their defensive zone percentage is at 47.6% for the year. That puts them 9th and 22nd in the league in zone percentages respectively. They have 1,579 face-off wins as opposed to 1,713 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 48%. That is 27th overall in the NHL. On defense Montreal has 1,371 hits and they've blocked 898 attempts from opposing offenses, which is 1st in the league.

Advanced Statistics

The Flyers are 16th in the league in starting possessions in the offensive zone, doing so 50.6% of the time. Their defensive zone percentage is at 49.4% for the season, which is 18th in the NHL. They have 1,681 face-off wins compared to 1,504 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 52.8%. That is 3rd in the league. On defense Philadelphia has 1,103 hits and they have blocked 780 shots from the opposition, which is 16th in the league. Philadelphia is 13th in the NHL in Corsi percentage with 50.6% as they've attempted 3,058 shots on net at full strength while they've given up 2,984 shots on net in the same situations. Their Fenwick percentage of 51% ranks 13th as they have 2,297 attempts while they have given up 2,204 shots on the defensive end.

Who will win tonight's Canadiens/Flyers NHL game against the spread?

Guy's Pick: Take Montreal +131

Get $60 worth of FREE premium member picks. No Obligation. No Salesman. No Credit Card. Fast Sign up with Instant Access Click Here

Read more articles by Guy Bruhn