Bet on the Flyers to win as slight underdogs against Hurricanes in Tuesday night’s matchup

The Philadelphia Flyers have to be pleased with where they sit after the first quarter of the NHL season. Projected to be one of the worst teams in the entire NHL before Opening Night, John Tortorella’s side has defied expectations and sit firmly in the playoff mix after 21 games.

What’s more is the Flyers have established themselves as a real pesky underdog with wins over Vegas, Carolina, Los Angeles and Vancouver under their belt already this season. Philadelphia certainly still has flaws and that makes this team tough to back as a favorite, but that point is moot on Tuesday night because the Flyers are a +135 home underdog against the Carolina Hurricanes.

We’ve seen plenty of teams defy expectations early on in an NHL season and most of the time they follow a similar formula. They play a scrappy, hard-working style and rely on their goaltender to keep them in games long enough so they can nick a win even if they’ve been generally outplayed. The Flyers are not one of those teams. They’ve earned every bit of this strong start and the numbers back that up.

Philadelphia ranks 16th in goal difference, 11th in expected goal rate and 21st in high-danger scoring chance percentage at 5-on-5 through the first quarter of the season, and while those numbers aren’t going to blow anyone away, they are certainly better than we all expected out of a team that struggled to push play in the right direction in 2022-23.

The Hurricanes have been one of the best 5-on-5 teams for years now and this season has been no different. The Canes aren’t racking up wins like we’re used to seeing early in the campaign, but the underlying metrics still sparkle. Carolina ranks first in shot attempt rate, second in expected goals percentage and seventh in high-danger scoring chance difference at 5-on-5 this season, but a lot of their hard work has been undone by poor goaltending. The Hurricanes rank last in the NHL with an .864 save percentage through 19 games.

Carolina is a tough matchup for any team, but the Flyers have been strong enough at 5-on-5 that they’re unlikely to get caved in and they should also have a decided edge in the goaltending department on Tuesday night.

These are the exact situations where you want to back the Flyers right now.

The Inquirer is not an online gambling operator, or a gambling site. We provide this information about sports betting for entertainment purposes only.