The Boston Bruins will host the Philadelphia Flyers tonight on the backend of a back-to-back but Bruce Cassidy’s team will have plenty of motivation with the return of Tuukka Rask between the pipes.
Is Rask ready for game action after not having played since last season’s playoffs? Can the Flyers snap their five-game losing skid while mired in a 5-16 SU stretch?
Find out in our free NHL picks and predictions for the Flyers vs. Bruins.
Flyers vs Bruins odds
Odds via the Covers Line, an average comprised of odds from multiple sportsbooks.
The Bruins opened as -255 on the moneyline and have been bet down to -285. The total sits at 6 and leans to the Under. Boston closed as -140 road favorites in the last meeting back in November.
Use the live odds widget above to track any future line movements right until puck drop and be sure to check out the full NHL odds before betting to ensure you get the best number.
Flyers vs Bruins predictions
- Prediction: Bruins -1.5 (-110)
- Prediction: Over 6 (+100)
- Best bet: Bruins team total Over 3.5 (-124)
Predictions made on 1/13/2022 at 9:30 a.m. ET.
Click on each prediction to jump to the full analysis.
If you're signing up for a new sportsbook for the 2022-22 NHL season, here are two of the best welcome bonuses available:
USA: Sign up with Caesars and get your first bet matched up to $1,001! Claim Now
Canada: Bet on any team to win a game involving a Canadian team at Betway — if they jump out to a 2-0 lead, you get paid out as a winner, regardless of the final result! Claim Now
Flyers vs Bruins game info
• Location: TD Garden, Boston, MA
• Date: Thursday, January 13, 2022
• Puck drop: 7:00 p.m. ET
• TV: ESPN
Flyers vs Bruins betting preview
Injuries
Flyers: Sean Couturier F (Out), Rasmus Ristolainen D (Out).
Bruins: Jake DeBrusk F (Out), Nick Foligno F (Questionable), Trent Frederic F (Questionable).
Find our latest NHL injury reports.
Flyers vs Bruins head-to-head record (since 2020)
Flyers: 6-9 SU, 42 goals for.
Bruins: 9-6 SU, 54 goals for.
Betting trend to know
The Bruins are 6-0 SU in their last six vs. the Eastern Conference. Find more NHL betting trends for Flyers vs. Bruins.
Flyers vs Bruins picks and predictions
Our predictions are compiled from the analysis of the spread and total and are indications of where we are leaning for this game.
Our best bet is the play that we like the most for this game, which we would actually put some of our bankroll behind.
Puck line analysis
At first glance, the Flyers, at +225, look like a decent underdog Thursday but we aren’t reaching for our proverbial wallets anytime soon. To lead things off, this is a Flyers team that has just three regulation wins over their last 21 games and is riding a five-game losing streak. They had a 10-game losing streak in December that got their head coach fired but the addition of Mike Yeo to the top spot behind the bench hasn’t done much to rally the troops in Philadelphia. Plus, Yeo will more than likely be spectating this contest as he is currently in COVID protocols.
Next, the Flyers are dealing with COVID issues of their own but will likely get Claude Giroux, Travis Konecny, Ivan Provorov, and Justin Braun back from the COVID list. As we’ve seen, it takes a little time for players coming off quarantine to ramp back up to game speed. Even with the addition of these four skaters, this is still a team that sits third-last in point percentage since mid-November, is allowing goals at a Top-5 rate and scoring goals at Bottom-3 rate over that stretch. Everything is going bad for this team right now. Now they’ll enter a rocking TD Garden, as Boston fan-favorite Tuukka Rask will be making his first start of the season.
The Garden was chanting for Rask last night during their 5-1 thumping of the Canadiens, which was the team’s sixth win in seven games. Rask last played in the 2021 playoffs and has been working his way back from hip surgery. He could fall on his face, but he has too much experience with this locker room and the boys will be at their best trying to help Rask grab the win.
Rask finished with a 2.28 GAA last season and might not be that busy tonight, as Boston allows the 10th fewest shots per game, has the lowest xgoals against at 5-on-5, and rank second in Fenwick%. The Bruins allowed just 1.47 xgoals last night versus Montreal while holding them to just 25 shots.
Boston was perfect on the PK last night and is now a perfect 11 for 11 over its last three games. This is the best stretch of hockey Boston has played all year and with Brad Marchand (three goals last night and eight in his last four) and David Pastrnak (four goals in his last three games) playing on different lines, Bruce Cassidy has found a great balance in his top-six scoring as the Bruins have 33 goals over their last seven games.
Carter Hart will get the nod for the visitors. He is coming off a big loss to the Penguins where he allowed six goals on 32 shots. He’s 2-8 SU in his last 10 and despite a decent SV% and goals saved above expected/60, he still owns a 2.92 GAA. He wasn’t in net during Boston’s 5-2 victory as -140 ML favorites in Philadelphia back in late November but was 0-3 in five games against the Bruins last season with a 4.86 GAA.
There is a reason the Flyers are +225 road dogs facing a team that played the night before.
With these prices, the only move here is Boston on the puck line or their team total.
Prediction: Bruins -1.5 (-110)
Over/Under analysis
The Bruins pushed the total of 6 last night in their one-sided 5-1 win over the Canadiens. Montreal is one of the lowest-scoring teams so it’s probable that the Flyers can do a little more than the Habs offensively. That’s all Boston might need to grab its sixth Over in eight games, as the Bruins are 5-1-1 O/U in their last seven.
The offense has been scoring in bunches, headlined by Pastrnak and Marchand, while the power-play has also been clicking with four goals over its last four contests. Since Christmas, this is the No. 4 offense at 4.71 goals per game and the majority of those have been at even strength which is a great sign of reproducibility.
Rask has worked his way back from hip surgery and as a 34-year-old goalie, that’s no easy task. Guessing how well he performs tonight in his first game back is just that: a guess. But one thing we can likely assume is that Rask will struggle to equal the production of backup Jeremy Swayman, who was sent down to Providence with the addition of Rask. Swayman was sporting a team-best 2.26 GAA before the demotion.
Hart played in five games against the Bruins last season with the realigned divisions and was a hot mess. He allowed 23 goals in those five matches and was pulled in one of them. Hart has also allowed nine goals in his two games since the restart.
The Flyers’ offense has been hot and cold this season but getting Giroux and Konecny back in the lineup are positives for the Over. This is a better offense than Montreal and faces a goalie that hasn’t played an NHL game in seven months.
This Boston offense is rolling and Philadelphia allows the most shots on net in hockey. We’re hitting the Over again tonight at 6, which was the same total the previous meeting closed at.
Prediction: Over 6 (+100)
Best bet
We’re back on the Bruins tonight and happy to ride this offense which is getting production from everywhere of late. Boston has scored five or more goals in five of its last six games, and facing a goalie in Hart who they tagged last season has us hammering the home side’s team total of 3.5 at a reasonable -124.
With a new-looking top-six forward group, this Bruins team is playing their best hockey of the year and we’re happy to ride them for a second straight night against an opponent that has given up goals in bunches this season.
Pick: Bruins team total Over 3.5 (-124)
Did you know that if you parlayed today’s NHL Flyers vs. Bruins picks, you could win $28.00 on a $10 bet?
Use our NHL parlay calculator to create your own parlays and see their potential payouts.
