New York Rangers vs. Philadelphia Flyers Expert Pick – Thursday, February 24, 2024

NEW YORK RANGERS VS. PHILADELPHIA FLYERS EXPERT PICK – In several ways, it’s been a productive year and a half in the City of Brotherly Love for John Tortorella. The Flyers’ coach has Philadelphia on track to make the playoffs, which the Flyers haven’t done in a full campaign since 2018. With 25 games left, Philadelphia is just eight points short of last year’s total.

But there’s one thing Tortorella hasn’t done since taking over in Philly: beat his former employer from Broadway. New York has owned this series in Tortorella’s time in Philadelphia, winning all five games and only once allowing the Flyers to top two goals.

Related: Montreal Canadiens vs. Pittsburgh Penguins

The Flyers’ problem with the Rangers goes back much further than Tortorella’s arrival in Philadelphia. New York has won eight of nine from the Flyers, with more than half of the wins coming by more than one goal. And the Rangers enter this game on fire, having won nine in a row and coming off a 5-1 rout of New Jersey.

The Rangers’ dominance of this series won’t last forever, nor will their win streak. But is Philadelphia’s defense-first game enough to throw off New York, which boasts five power play goals in its past four games?

The Odds

Puck Drop

When: Saturday, February 24, 2024, at 3 PM

Where: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia

TV: ABC

Public Bets: 75% on New York 

Public Money: 69% on Philadelphia

New York Rangers vs. Philadelphia Flyers In-Season Trends

The Rangers have been hit or miss with the defense during this nine-game surge. In their two most recent games against New Jersey and Dallas, Igor Shesterkin shut down the opposition, allowing just one goal each and cashing the over. In the game before that, he allowed five goals to the Islanders. With the Rangers getting last-place Columbus on Sunday, Shesterkin likely gets his fourth straight start.

Even with their offensive surge, the Flyers have been an under team, playing to the under 31 times in 57 games. That’s not the fault of the Philadelphia offense; it has scored at least three times in six straight games, and one of those was Winnipeg..

Players to Watch

Artemi Panarin has racked up points all season, and he’s been dishing out the assists as of late. Over the Rangers’ past four games, he’s picked up 10 assists while scoring just one goal himself. Panarin’s likely to light the lamp again before too long, but given how many chances the Flyers are giving up lately, he’s likely a strong play to get on the score sheet one way or another.

Travis Konecny has been a point machine, scoring in seven straight games for the Flyers. But Konecny is a question mark for this game, as he took a hard hit in practice Friday and didn’t return to the ice. If he’s not able to go, Philadelphia’s offense won’t be anywhere near as effective, especially if Shesterkin is at his best.

The Pick

It’s never easy to pick a team that’s stretched its win streak as far as the Blueshirts have. New York’s going to hit a wall at some point, and Philadelphia would love to bring the nine-game streak to an end.

But with Konecny a question mark and Shesterkin coming off two solid starts, the value just isn’t there with the Flyers. Getting a fired-up home team at plus money is usually a strong value play, but +115 isn’t enough to get me excited about a team facing New York’s powerful offense and Shesterkin between the pipes.

The Rangers might not put up as many goals as usual given the Flyers’ strength on the power play. But they should do the job.