Philadelphia Flyers @ Nashville Predators - November 27, 2024

As the Philadelphia Flyers and Nashville Predators gear up for their matchup at Bridgestone Arena, both teams are looking to turn around disappointing recent performances. The oddsmakers have installed Nashville as -143 favorites, suggesting they have the edge in this contest. However, when we dive deeper into the numbers, a more nuanced picture emerges.

Nashville has struggled offensively this season, averaging just 2.4 goals per game with a shooting percentage of 8.3%. Their offensive zone play is slightly better than average at 52.8%, but it hasn’t translated into consistent scoring. The Predators’ power play operates at a modest 21.1% efficiency, netting about 0.7 goals per game on roughly three chances.

Defensively, Nashville boasts solid metrics with an impressive save percentage of 89.6% and a penalty kill rate of over 90%. This defensive strength could be crucial against a Flyers team that has had its own struggles.

The Flyers come into this game averaging slightly more goals per game at 2.6 but also face challenges in terms of shot generation (26.8 shots per game) and shooting accuracy (10.4%). Their power play is even less effective than Nashville’s, converting only 16.9% of opportunities for about half a goal per game.

When assessing overall performance through advanced metrics like Corsi percentage—where Nashville holds an advantage with a corsi percentage of nearly 51.8% compared to Philadelphia’s sub-46%—it becomes clear that the Predators may have the upper hand in puck possession and generating chances.

However, despite these statistics favoring Nashville in several areas, it’s essential to consider recent form and momentum heading into the match-up. Both teams are struggling; Philadelphia lost their last outing to Vegas by one goal while allowing five total scores against them—a concerning trend for any defense looking to regain confidence.

Given these factors, I predict that Nashville will emerge victorious tonight due to their home-ice advantage and superior defensive capabilities which should limit Philadelphia’s offensive output significantly.

Yet here’s where things get interesting: I believe Philadelphia will cover the spread as underdogs based on their ability to keep games close despite their shortcomings—particularly given how closely contested their recent matches have been.

As for total goals scored? With both teams exhibiting low-scoring tendencies lately coupled with decent goaltending from both sides—I’m leaning towards an UNDER outcome for this matchup as well.

In summary: expect Nashville to win but not without some fight from Philadelphia; they’ll likely cover the spread while keeping it under six-and-a-half total goals scored in what should be another tightly contested NHL battle!