Sports Betting Overview
On the last day before the two-day Christmas break, hockey fans get a quick preview of the 2012 Winter Classic as the New York Rangers host the Philadelphia Flyers. It is still strange to think that the Rangers are playing in the Winter Classic and the game is not in the New Yankee Stadium. But this game will be held at Madison Square Garden, and it is a game that both teams need. The Rangers trail the Flyers by four points in the Atlantic Division standings. It is a situation the Rangers have not been in for some time as the team is battling for the division lead heading into the new year. The addition of players such as Brad Richards have significantly helped the Rangers’ cause. This could be a very good year to be a Rangers’ fan.
The Philadelphia Flyers got their leading scorer Claude Giroux back from a concussion and Giroux got right back to lighting up the lamp with a four-point performance against the Dallas Stars. According to the price per head bookie experts, Giroux is definitely an early MVP candidate and a potential Rocket Richard award winner for top scorer in the league as well. The Flyers is still rotating goaltenders Sergei Bobrovsky and Ilya Bryzgalov without one goalie really showing that he wants to take the top spot. The price per head bookmaking experts point to Bryzgalov as the number one goalie due to the volume of work he has done so far this season. But the Flyers are not afraid to put in Bobrovsky when Bryzgalov is having a bad night.
New York Rangers
The one thing that has been in consistent in New York, and does not get enough credit for his work, is goaltender Henrik Lundqvist. With the acquisition of Richards in the offseason, the Rangers’ offense was given a tremendous boost. But New York has never worried about its defense because Lundqvist has been back there. A sportsbook.com review of Lunqvist’s stats this season show him at the top of the league in save percentage and goals against average again. The difference is that his efforts are helping to push the Rangers to the top of the Eastern Conference this season. The Rangers are scoring goals and playing good defense on their way to the Winter Classic.
Philadelphia Flyers
The Flyers are a very fragile hockey team. Philadelphia has already lost defenseman Chris Pronger for an extended period of time this season due to injury. Pronger is the team’s captain and he is gone for the season. When the Flyers lost Claude Giroux to a concussion for a couple of weeks, the team kind of buckled a little bit. The NHL fans in Philadelphia are always wondering if their team has what it takes to win the Stanley Cup. For the last few years, the Flyers have been the victim of inconsistent goaltending. It is tough to get a read on where the Philadelphia goaltending situation is headed this season, but it does look a lot more stable than it has in previous years. The Flyers finally have a real starting goaltender in Ilyz Bryzgalov and a quality backup in Sergei Bobrovsky. With the Philadelphia offense back intact, that goaltending could be backstopping one of the best offenses in the league.
The Bottom Line
This will be a physical game and it will show why these two teams were selected to play in the Winter Classic this year. But the Philly offense may prove to be a little too much for the Rangers’ defense.
Pick: Philadelphia Flyers
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