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Top NHL Odds, Picks & Predictions: Oilers vs. Flyers (Thursday)

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The Metropolitan Division’s Philadelphia Flyers host the Pacific Division’s Edmonton Oilers on Thursday evening. Below, I walk through my favorite bet to make for this contest.

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Thursday’s NHL Best Bet: Oilers vs. Flyers

Odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook

Edmonton Oilers (-218) vs. Philadelphia Flyers (+180) | O/U 7 (+100/-120)

Edmonton bounced back in a big way with a 6-1 victory over the Nashville Predators following two straight losses to the Vancouver Canucks. With that said, there are still a bunch of question marks regarding the Oilers.

First of all, can they get scoring help outside of the usual suspects? There are still 11 skaters on this roster without a single point through the first three games this season. At 5-on-5, Edmonton ranks four spots lower than Philadelphia in expected Goals For Per 60 minutes (xGF/60).

Meanwhile, the Oilers’ blue line continues to be the team’s Achilles’ Heel as they rank 23rd in the league in expected goals against per 60 minutes (xGA/60) at 5-on-5. That is well below the Flyers, who rank ninth in the league in the same category.

However, perhaps the Flyers’ biggest advantage in this contest is in the net as Carter Hart is expected to go against Jack Campbell. This year, Hart ranks higher in SV% and GAA. Yes, it’s a small sample size, but Hart was also far better than Campbell in both of those statistics last year as well.

Hart has also done a fine job against the Oilers in his career, going 3-3 with a .909 SV% and 3.02 GAA.

Are the Flyers a better team than Edmonton? No, but they are playing like it right now and+180 is a number worth taking a shot on as they look to secure back-to-back wins on home ice.

Bet: Flyers ML (+180)

Make sure to check out our other best bets for Thursday:

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Tony Sartori is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Tony, check out his archive and follow him @tony_sartori.

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