It’s officially hockey season. The Philadelphia Flyers will kick off their 2022 campaign this evening with a clash against the New Jersey Devils at the Wells Fargo Center. Buckle up, this is where the fun begins.
How to watch:
When: 7PM EST, Thursday October 13th
Where: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia
How: ESPN+, Hulu
Why: I don’t know.
Betting line: Philadelphia Flyers +1.5 -225
The matchup
What better way to kick off a new season than with two teams who were dwelling in the basement for the majority of the 2021 campaign? The Devils may be 6-3-1 against the Flyers in their last 10 encounters, but that’s not saying much.
Sure, the Flyers sucked for the majority of the season, but the Devils weren’t much better. They conceded nearly 3 goals per game and struggled mightily on special teams. That sentence could describe either team. Where the two differ is trajectory.
The Devils are hoping to hang their hats on Nico Hischier and Jack Hughes, while the Flyers decided to go all-in on players over 30 for some bizarre reason.
Adding insult to injury is the fact that the Flyers will be without Cam Atkinson tonight. He put up 50 points in 2021 and had he not missed the final 9 games of the year, would’ve probably ended with an even more impressive total as one of the lone consistent bright spots on the team.
There’s also a chance that Rasmus Ristolainen will be unable to go after leaving practice early. Nick Seeler will fill his spot if needed.
The good news is that Carter Hart should be good to go, but will he be rusty? He missed all 6 preseason games due to a lower-body injury, so it may take a game or two for him to settle in.
Flyers vs Devils Betting preview
The biggest change the Flyers made this offseason was bringing in John Tortorella as Head Coach. We know his teams tend to play aggressively and rely on a nasty defense. That should mean a step in the right direction for the Flyers, but his first few months in charge have been like watching a coach take a bunch of unfit kids who don’t care about a sport and try to get them to a competitive level, like some kind of sitcom.
Realistically, this game could just be an absolute mess and I’m going to take the over 6 goals line at -115 as a result. I don’t trust the Flyers defense and if Carter Hart is rusty, they could concede a few. The Devils are equally worrying on the back end so expecting a slugfest with some sloppy goals to bring us over the 6.0 total needed for this bet to cash.
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Photo by Gregory Fisher/Icon Sportswire
