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Bet on the Flyers and Wild to end regulation in a draw Friday night in Minnesota

Should we expect another overtime game for Philadelphia?

ELMONT, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 25: Samuel Ersson #33 of the Philadelphia Flyers stops Oliver Wahlstrom #26 of the New York Islanders in the shootout at UBS Arena on November 25, 2023 in Elmont, New York. The Flyers defeated the Islanders 1-0 in the shootout. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
ELMONT, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 25: Samuel Ersson #33 of the Philadelphia Flyers stops Oliver Wahlstrom #26 of the New York Islanders in the shootout at UBS Arena on November 25, 2023 in Elmont, New York. The Flyers defeated the Islanders 1-0 in the shootout. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)Read moreBruce Bennett / Getty Images
    by Michael Leboff, Action Network
    Published 

It’s been a dramatic week for the Philadelphia Flyers. The Cutter Gauthier saga and subsequent trade caught everybody outside the organization by surprise and led to a war of words between the former No. 5 pick and the Flyers, but the team now has to put the drama behind them and focus on keeping themselves in a wide open playoff race in the Eastern Conference.

The Flyers are a slight road underdog against the Minnesota Wild on Friday night.

Flyers vs. Wild prediction: Analysis

The Flyers played a solid game against the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday, but ultimately needed to go to a shootout to get the win. It was a good reminder of why bettors should be weary of backing the Flyers as a favorite. It was a dominant performance from Philadelphia, but it was still hard work to defeat an overmatched opponent.

We could see a similar situation in Minneapolis on Friday night.

The Wild and Flyers are not all that different. Both teams play a structured, hard-working 5-on-5 game but don’t have the top-end talent or scoring depth to always get results out of their terrific possession metrics. In a vacuum you’d say the Wild are just a better version of the Flyers, but there are extenuating circumstances in this contest which is why this game is priced as a coin flip.

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Perhaps no team has been impacted by injuries more than Minnesota this season. Not only is superstar Kirill Kaprizov out week-to-week, but so is goaltender Filip Gustavsson and defensemen Jonas Brodin and Jared Spurgeon. The Wild were already thin due to their salary cap issues, so they’re not well-equipped to deal with this kind of adversity. Minnesota is 1-6-0 with a -16 goal difference in its last seven contests.

With their current injury crisis, you’d expect the Wild to do everything they can to muddy up the waters and keep this game tight. They’re not in a position to go back and forth with any team in the NHL, even one with limited offensive upside like the Flyers. Philadelphia is more than happy to play that style of hockey, which could really turn this game into a slog.

That game-script will put plenty of value on backing this contest to go to overtime.

Flyers vs. Wild prediction: Pick

  1. The Bet: 60-minute draw (+350)

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