Philadelphia Flyers @ Ottawa Senators - November 14, 2024

As the Philadelphia Flyers prepare to face off against the Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Centre, we can glean some valuable insights from their recent performances and statistics. The Senators enter this matchup as -143 moneyline favorites, reflecting a slight edge over the struggling Flyers.

Starting with Ottawa, they have been impressive offensively, averaging 3.4 goals per game on 32 shots. Their shooting percentage stands at a solid 10.9%, which indicates that they are capitalizing on their opportunities effectively. Additionally, they boast a strong power play unit, converting nearly 29.2% of their chances into goals—this could be pivotal in tonight’s game if they draw penalties against Philadelphia.

Defensively, the Senators have shown resilience as well, saving 89.2% of shots faced and maintaining a penalty kill percentage of 79%. While these numbers suggest room for improvement in terms of special teams’ effectiveness, they’ve still managed to keep opponents at bay recently.

On the other hand, the Flyers have struggled significantly this season with a record of just 6-8-2. They average only 2.6 goals per game and shoot less frequently than Ottawa—27 shots per game with a lower shooting percentage of just 10.1%. This inefficiency in scoring is compounded by their underwhelming power play success rate of only 19.2%.

Interestingly enough, while Philadelphia has had issues generating offense consistently, they did manage to secure a win against San Jose in their last outing—a narrow victory that saw them score four goals but also allowed three from their opponents. Defensively, they’ve been slightly better than Ottawa when it comes to save percentage (87.4%), yet their penalty kill has been more effective at an impressive rate of 90.4%.

Given these trends and stats leading up to Thursday’s contest, I predict that Ottawa will emerge victorious over Philadelphia based on their stronger offensive output and home-ice advantage. However, I believe that Philadelphia will cover the spread due to the potential for them to keep things competitive despite their struggles throughout the season.

In terms of total points scored during this matchup—considering both teams’ tendencies—it seems likely that we’ll see an outcome below six goals combined tonight given both teams’ recent scoring patterns and defensive capabilities.

In summary: expect Ottawa to take home the win while Philadelphia manages to cover the spread; however, don’t anticipate an offensive explosion—the Under is likely where bettors should lean for total points scored tonight!