The Philadelphia Flyers will try to avoid a season sweep by the Pittsburgh Penguins that could snuff out their tenuous playoff hopes when they play host to their Metropolitan Division rivals on Saturday as -123 betting favorites at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
Despite sitting outside the Eastern Conference playoff picture, Philadelphia remains in control of their own playoff destiny entering Saturday afternoon’s Penguins vs. Flyers betting matchup at Wells Fargo Center.
The Flyers are coming off a disappointing 4-3 overtime loss to Toronto on Thursday that prevented them from drawing alongside the Boston Bruins and Detroit Red Wings in the conference standings.
While deadlocked with Boston in the Atlantic Division standings, the Red Wings currently claim sole possession of third place, narrowly topping the Bruins in regulation and overtime wins.
However, Philly maintains one game in hand on both Boston and Detroit, who each wrap up their campaigns early on Saturday, with the Bruins battling the Ottawa Senators as -275 home chalk, and the Red Wings visiting the New York Rangers as -120 road favorites.
Philadelphia has now lost three straight, and six of their past 11 overall, according to the OddsShark NHL Database, and must also overcome a red-hot Penguins squad that has beaten them three times since January, and is currently on a torrid 14-1 run.
In the event of victories on Saturday by both Boston and Detroit, the Flyers will need to post wins against both Pittsburgh and the New York Islanders, whom they face on Sunday, to clinch a playoff berth.
Over in the Western Conference, the Anaheim Ducks will need help from the Winnipeg Jets to overtake the Los Angeles Kings and claim a fourth straight Pacific Division title.
Winnipeg visits the Kings on Saturday night as +200 underdogs, and must hand Los Angeles a loss in their regular season finale to preserve the Ducks’ shot at the division crown.
Anaheim trails the Kings by two points with two games remaining, but comes up short on tiebreakers against their crosstown rivals.
Losers in their past two games, the Ducks are pegged as -150 road favorites to end a three-game losing streak against the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday, before traveling to Washington to face the Capitals on Sunday.
Washington remains atop the Stanley Cup odds as 4/1 favorites, followed by the Kings at 7/1, the Chicago Blackhawks at 15/2, and Anaheim at 8/1. Pittsburgh joins the Dallas Stars at 9/1, while the St. Louis Blues round out the favorites with 10/1 odds.