The Carolina Hurricanes continued their roll against the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday night.
After sweeping the Ottawa Senators in Round 1 of the Stanley Cup playoffs, the Canes extended their winning streak to five games by blanking the Flyers, 3-0.
It was another classic Carolina performance. There was hardly any room on the ice, the Flyers generated just two high-danger scoring chances, and the Canes got timely goals to put Philadelphia away.
After stymying the Pittsburgh Penguins for much of their series in Round 1, the Flyers got a taste of their own medicine against the Canes.
Carolina’s formula is no secret. The Canes pressure you all over the ice, funnel pucks to the net every chance they can, and they squeeze the life out of you as soon as they get ahead in a game.
The Senators could barely get a sniff against Carolina in a closer-than-it-looked sweep, and now the Flyers are facing an uphill climb.
The silver lining, at least from a handicapping perspective, is that the Hurricanes are not really blowing teams away. They raced out to an early lead in Game 1 and managed things from there en route to a 3-0 win, but that was the first time that the Canes won by more than two goals in the postseason.
They went 2-0 against Ottawa in one-goal games, and one of their two multi-goal victories in that series was aided by a pair of empty-netters.
That isn’t meant to take anything away from Carolina, but to help illuminate why there may be some sell-high value in Game 2.
As dominant as the Hurricanes have been at 5-on-5, they’re unlikely to continue getting .961 goaltending from Frederik Andersen, and eventually a bounce or two will go against them. They may even find themselves trailing at some point, something that hasn’t happened yet this postseason.
And as impressive as Carolina’s defense and goaltending have been this postseason, the Flyers have been no slouches in that regard, either. If Philadelphia can get its footing in Game 2, it could be a tough mountain for the Hurricanes to climb.
Carolina is deserving of its heavy-favorite status on Monday, but this number is a bit too rich. It’s time to sell high.
The Play: Flyers moneyline (+210, FanDuel)
Michael Leboff is a long-suffering Islanders fan, but a long-profiting sports bettor with 10 years of experience in the gambling industry. He loves using game theory to help punters win bracket pools, find long shots, and learn how to beat the market in mainstream and niche sports.
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