Blue Jackets Will Steal This One From Flyers

Flyers vs. Blue Jackets, 7:00 ET

Flyers vs. Blue Jackets, 7:00 ET

You know you’re locked in, or lucky, or whatever you want to call it, when you get a +200 dog to cash for you to keep the streak alive. I also said the game would likely be an under. The Blackhawks were able to take the game from the Rangers on the road and won it with a simple 2-1 score. Now is the time to keep everything rolling and invest as much as I can while I’m hot. Today, I put some at risk on the game between the Flyers and the Blue Jackets in Columbus. 

The Flyers are 12-12-4 for the season with a 6-4-3 record away from their home ice. Philadelphia is led by Travis Konecny who has the most goals and assists on the team – leading to the most points. The Flyers have struggled lately, losing their past three contests. I do think this has a bit to do with travel as they went from Philadelphia to St. Louis to Philadelphia to Boston, back to Philadelphia, and now to Columbus. Although the distances aren’t that far, they still were traveling a lot and have played six games in 12 days. The problem lately has been their defense, allowing at least four goals to opponents in each of their past three games. That is a bit higher than the 3.43 goals against per game they’ve allowed, but not a crazy increase. Their offense hasn’t been terrible in this stretch, scoring at least three goals in four of their past five games. Tonight it is possible that they put Samuel Ersson in the net, but he does have a lower body issue, so there isn’t any certainty. Ersson is 5-3-2 with a 2.83 goals against per game average and a .897 save percentage. 

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA – NOVEMBER 23: Matvei Michkov #39 of the Philadelphia Flyers controls the puck against the Chicago Blackhawks in overtime at the Wells Fargo Center on November 23, 2024 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Flyers defeated the Blackhawks 3-2 in overtime. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)

The Blue Jackets aren’t that much better than the Flyers and have a very similar record at 12-12-3. However, they’ve been very good at home this season, going 8-3-1. They have also struggled lately, going 2-3 over their past five games, but they did win the most recent game. All of these games were on the road, and while the travel from city to city does impact the players, it isn’t quite the same as going home to road constantly. The Blue Jackets are scoring 3.41 goals per game, and they scored six and four goals in the two wins. They are also allowing 3.56 goals per game to opponents this season. They’ve only allowed three goals in three of their past five games, but they are just 1-2 in those matchups. What is interesting is that for the year the Blue Jackets are shooting more often than their opponents by about three shots per game. Elvis Merzlikins is likely to be in the net tonight. He’s been decent with a 9-7-2 record, allowing just 2.95 goals against per game and a .893 save percentage. 

If Columbus’s defense can show up at all they should be able to win this game. The Flyers aren’t playing great hockey at the moment, but I wouldn’t say the Blue Jackets are either. Both teams have the ability to put up three or four goals in this one, but I also think they are just as likely to have a low scoring game tonight as well. I won’t take on the total, instead, I’m going to take the Blue Jackets to win this one. 

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