NHL Bets – Flyers Feed off Montreal’s Mulligan

The Philadelphia Flyers put a beating on the Montreal Canadiens in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final on Sunday afternoon. It was a different Montreal team that showed up in Philadelphia and hopes in Habs nation are that they have simply got the bad game out of the way.

Montreal Canadiens @ Philadelphia Flyers
7:00 PM ET, Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Wachovia Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
On: Versus (USA) and CBC (Canada)

Philadelphia leads series 1-0

Montreal Canadiens: +135

The Montreal Canadiens appear to have fallen into a disturbing pattern. Lack of discipline and a poor penalty kill has proven costly in each of their last two series Game 1’s. Against Pittsburgh, four power play goals allowed the Penguins to come away with a 6-3 win in Game 1 of that series and on Sunday, uncharacteristic lack of discipline led to three goals for the Flyers.

Zero goals and a substandard effort by Jaroslav Halak. I’ll give the Montreal a mulligan in this game. Not to take anything away from the Philadelphia Flyers but you can place your NHL bets on the Canadiens being better in Game 2. About the only thing that the Habs can take away from Game 1 is the fact that they actually outshot the Flyers 28-26.

Puckline: Montreal: +1.5 (-240): Philadelphia: -1.5 (200)

Philadelphia Flyers: -155

The Philadelphia Flyers have now won five straight games – quite a run considering how they have done it. They are 5-1 at home in the playoffs and seem to be clicking on all cylinders right now. They will be tough to slow down in Game 2.

Braydon Coburn, Danny Briere, Claude Giroux, James van Riemsdyk and Scott Hartnell all had a goal and an assist for the Flyers In Game 1 proving that they do not necessarily need Mike Richards to come up huge in order for the Flyers to win. Simone Gagne scored the other goal for Philadelphia continuing his incredible play since returning to the lineup from a broken toe. Coach peter Laviolette deserves a lot of credit getting this team prepared after only 48 hours.

Goaltender Michael Leighton got the shutout in Game 1 and has now stretched his shutout streak to an incredible 106 minutes. The pre-playoff goaltending worries of the Flyers have not even come close to realization.

Top to bottom, the Flyers appear to be the most cohesive unit left in this year`s playoffs. They are playing hard, playing smart, and most importantly, they are playing together.

Game 2 should be a bounce back game for the Canadiens. They were certainly outclassed in Game 1 but Coach Jacques Martin will not let it happen again. The Canadiens are prone to a bad game every once in a while but have not had two bad games in a row this entire post season.

NHL Bets Pick: Montreal Canadiens +135