Penguins Can Take Down Flyer In Pennsylvania Battle

Flyers vs. Penguins, 7:00 ET

I live in Chicago and know that there are a lot of rivalries that my hometown sports teams have. The Cubs hate the Cardinals. The Bears hate the Packers. The Bulls hate the Knicks. The Blackhawks hate the Red Wings. I'm sure there are others I'm not fully thinking about, but there is one matchup that usually draws more attention than others, and that is when the Cubs play the White Sox. I'm not sure if the rivalry is the same between the Flyers and the Penguins, but I have to hope it is close as we take that game on tonight. 

The Flyers enter tonight's game with a 15-15-4 record on the season, including a 7-6-3 road record. Their team has taken a bit of a stumble lately, losing six of their past nine games, with all but one of them being losses of multiple goals. In their wins, they've been pretty good offensively, scoring at least four goals in all three of the victories. The offense doesn't completely disappear in the losses (though they did have three games with two or fewer goals), but it seems that the defense is the biggest issue for Philadelphia. In their 19 losses (regular and overtime) they've allowed at least four goals in 16 games. I assume that Samuel Ersson will be minding the net tonight. Ersson is 7-5-2 in the net this season with a 3.09 goals against per game average and a .881 save percentage. He last played on Saturday, allowing four goals on 25 shots in a Philadelphia win. He has allowed 19 goals in five games this month and has just a .830 save percentage. 

Oct 22, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Samuel Ersson (33) during the third period against the Washington Capitals at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

The Penguins aren't any better than the Flyers in terms of record with a 15-15-5 mark entering the game. They are better at home than they are on the road, but I wouldn't say it is a stark contrast as they are just 9-7-2 on their home ice. Pittsburgh has played better hockey in their most recent stretch than they have previously. Over their past eight games they are just 4-4, but they are 8-4 over their last 12. This is likely how they will be most of the season, alternating good and bad stretches, but never really getting too far up or down one way or another. I assume their netminder will be Tristan Jarry who sports a 7-5-2 record himself, allowing 3.51 goals per game, and has a .885 save percentage. Similar to Ersson, these numbers aren't overly impressive and probably are a leading contributor to the average-ness of the Penguins team. However, there is one big difference between him and Ersson so far this season. Jarry, in December, has a .891 save percentage and has allowed 22 goals in 7 games. 

As of right now, it is clear that the Penguins goalie is playing better than the Flyers goalie. The Penguins are in better form at the moment, and they are playing at home where they seem much more comfortable. The line on this game indicates that it will be rather close, but we know if the Flyers lose, they tend to lose by more than one goal. I'll play the Penguins at -120, but I also think the puck line at +200 is worth a sprinkle here. 

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