Flyers have value as live underdog against Hurricanes on Monday night

The Philadelphia Flyers got a dose of reality against the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday afternoon. The Flyers were coming off an impressive win over the Minnesota Wild on Thursday and closed as -166 favorites but the Ducks caught them flat in the first period and skated out of Philadelphia with a 7-4 win.

The Flyers are in a much different spot on Monday night. At the time of writing Philadelphia is a +160 home underdog.

It’s pretty clear that the Flyers have some legitimate strengths right now. They’re playing a cohesive game, driving play in the right direction and getting strong goaltending from Carter Hart. Sean Courturier’s return to the lineup has given the Flyers a legitimate shutdown center and the strong play of Travis Konecny, Bobby Brink and Cam Atkinson has provided some offensive oomph to a lineup that was sorely lacking it in 2022-23.

The Flyers are far from a Stanley Cup contender and their flaws (especially on the blueline) make Philadelphia a tough team to back as a big favorite, but there’s enough bright spots on this roster that it makes sense that the Flyers are punching up well as an underdog right now.

The Carolina Hurricanes came into the 2023-24 season as the consensus Stanley Cup favorite but they have yet to really look the part. The Hurricanes have been one of the best defensive teams in the NHL since Rod Brind’Amour took over in 2018, but they’ve been exceedingly leaky to start the new campaign. Only Minnesota and Edmonton are giving up more goals against than the Canes and no team has a worse save percentage than Carolina.

» READ MORE: Should bettors believe in the Flyers after a surprising start to begin the NHL season?

Things do look better for the Hurricanes under the hood — they rank in the top-10 leaguewide in expected goals against and high-danger chances conceded — but there’s still some things amiss with Carolina right now.

Philadelphia has already proven to us that it has what it takes to be a pesky underdog in the early going this season. The Flyers have an in-form goaltender (something the Hurricanes do not have right now), they’ve got scoring talent and they’re not getting caved in at 5-on-5. Philadelphia has wins over Minnesota, Edmonton and Vancouver in its pocket this season and lost one goal to both Dallas and Vegas.

Expect the Flyers to give the Hurricanes all they can handle on Monday night.

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