NHL Angry Picks

NHL Free Picks – Philadelphia Flyers vs. New Jersey Devils
By Angry Tom

The Flyers entered the 2009-10 hockey betting season with all sorts of hope, but they’re struggling to retain a spot in the playoffs with time running out. They believed that their free agent acquisition of Chris Pronger would bolster their blue line, but just simply hasn’t been the case. The New Jersey Devils are hoping that their recent pickup of Ilya Kovalchuk won’t yield similar results when they host the Flyers tonight.

Kovalchuk went from one of the worst teams in the East to the second-best in the standings, and while he’s ripped off 17-shots in two games as a Devil, he has yet to notch a goal. It’s tough to blame Kovalchuk in this one though. New Jersey’s system is notoriously intricate and Jacques Lemaire  is still trying to find that magic slot for the former Thrasher. With 60 points this season, Kovalchuk will eventually find his place on the team, but the New Jersey betting backers would rather he do it sooner than later.

The Devils are just 1-4 SU in their last 5 games with that win coming over bottom feeding Toronto. The bad news is that New Jersey has been playing awful on the road. The good news is that they return to the Prudential Center tonight where they’re 18-5 SU in their last 23 home stands. Even more encouraging for you hockey betting nut jobs is New Jersey’s 15-2 SU record when hosting Philadelphia.

Philadelphia Flyers (29-25-3) vs. New Jersey Devils (36-20-2)
Wednesday, February 10th --- Prudential Center, Newark --- 7:00pm EST
NHL Betting Line: New Jersey -155 / Philadelphia +140

Not surprisingly, the Devils are first in the league in overall defense with just 2.3 goals allowed per game. The insertion of Kovalchuk, and his eventually successful integration in to the lineup, will boost their 2.9 goals scored average when playing at home. And while all eyes will be on Ilya tonight when he debuts for the Devils’ home crowd, the focus will be on whether the Flyers poor road offense can muster up any semblance of respectable play tonight.

Philadelphia is just 16th in the league when it comes to scoring on the road with just 2.6 goals per game away from home. That goes a long way in explaining their recent 1-4 SU record when touring the league and their inability to find the twine when playing on foreign ice is a huge reason the UNDER has been hit in 4 of their past 5 roadies.

They’ll certainly receive some sort of encouragement from being able to win against the Devils on Monday when they played back in Philly, but the extra time Lemaire has had to figure out Kovalchuk’s place on the team will decimate the Flyers in a revenge game tonight.

Philly is an attractive underdog after their 3-2 victory at home against New Jersey, but tonight will be a much different story. Goalie Michael Leighton will get his another start in place of Ray Emery tonight and he is winless against Jersey in two games, with a 4.06 goals against average. Look for Kovalchuk to get a start alongside

Angry Free Pick – New Jersey -155 (UNDER)