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NHL Predictions: Philadelphia Flyers vs. Carolina Hurricanes: Three Keys to Victory

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The Philadelphia Flyers, a rival team in the Metropolitan Division, will host the Carolina Hurricanes when they return home in this round of NHL Predictions. Between these two, this is their fourth and final meeting. Though it’s still early in the season, Carolina leads the series two games to one.

The Flyers visit Raleigh fresh off a Tuesday night victory against the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Flyers have been a fascinating club as the season comes to an end, currently sitting in third place in the Metro with 78 points. Despite their two trade deadline purchases and sales, they managed to secure a postseason berth. Sean Couturier, the captain of the Flyers, was benched by John Tortorella, which was the major story from Tuesday. Over their last ten games, the Flyers are 5-4-1.

After a fantastic three-game road trip that saw them win all three, the Hurricanes return home. They defeated the Maple Leafs in an exciting comeback game before defeating the Ottawa Senators 7-2 and the New York Islanders 4-1. Great goaltending and the extra firepower from their trade deadline signings were major contributors to this. With eight wins in a row, the Hurricanes trail the New York Rangers by two points in the Metro Division standings.

Here are three strategies that the Carolina Hurricanes can use to win this NHL Predictions round, which features an intra-divisional clash.

NHL Forecast: Philadelphia Flyers vs. Carolina Hurricanes
Three Crucial Elements for Carolina First Line Magic to Win

This season, the Carolina Hurricanes have had success with their starting line combinations at various points. The line of Andrei Svechnikov, Teuvo Teravainen, and Sebastian Aho was on fire at one point. However, as it cooled, changes were required. Jake Guentzel, Carolina’s bright new toy, has been playing on the first line with Aho and a bumped-up Seth Jarvis since a few games following the NHL trade deadline. Three extremely talented and offensively inclined players, with Jarvis and Aho offering very solid two-way play. But that line has been blazing lately because of those attributes as well as Guentzel’s outstanding offensive hockey IQ and inventiveness.

In five games together, this line has four goals for and none against. They also have 26 shots for with 15 against with a 65.22 CF%, 64.29% FF% and 72.4% xGF%. With only one high danger chance against they have 11 for too. And the eye test backs this up. These three have been creating plays to generate chances left and right while dominating most of the play while on the ice. Even though Guentzel is still new to the team, and the sample size is still not entirely large, his almost instant chemistry with these two has been huge. And it will be a big advantage against the Flyers if they can keep it up.

Keep the Foot on the Gas

The playoff picture is starting to take shape across the NHL. This is especially true for teams with large point gaps in the standings like the Rangers and Florida Panthers at the top with ones like the San Jose Sharks near the bottom. The Hurricanes fit into the first category with a 14 point lead over the third place Flyers and a little more of a lead over the last wild card spot. While they could compete for the top spot in the Metro, their sights are likely more on the playoffs. While nothing is guaranteed yet, this puts Carolina in an interesting spot for the rest of the season.

The team knows they cannot just coast and risk trickling into the playoffs. Even though that may be the focus rather than regular season accolades, not having to fight for your life means you need an additional source of self generated motivation. They can work on playing their game correctly, building good habits and, for injuries, keeping guys out with even minor nicks. But to keep getting wins, they need to keep up the motivation. It hasn’t been a problem lately but if they get too comfortable against the Flyers, it might become one.

Kill the …. Power Play?

Carolina is doing well both on the man-advantage and at 5v5 right now. However, they had went a little cold for a while, the power play has picked back up and they are back at third in the league at 26.4%. And on the penalty kill they have been stellar. At second in the league with a 85.8% kill rate this has been a strength. Meanwhile, the Flyers power play is a league worst 12.9% but their kill is third in the league at 84.5%. But while special teams could be a big factor here, the key here for Carolina is actually to play responsibly on the power play.

The Flyers lead the league in shorthanded goals with 15 this year. Travis Konecny is tied for the league lead in shorthanded goals with five. Meanwhile, Ryan Poehling has three and Scott Laughton has two while three more players have one each. It’s not a secret that the Flyers have no problem attacking the puck carrier on the kill and rushing back the other way to get a shorthanded chance. This means that Carolina will have to manage the puck carefully on the power play, especially near the blue line. Getting clean entries and making smart and crisp passes while in the zone will be key here. Shorthanded scoring is a strength for Philadelphia and Carolina doesn’t need to make that easier for them.

Forecast Duration
There has been a swing in both directions in the games during their season series. Although the Flyers are in more of a scrap to guarantee their postseason berth, Carolina currently leads the series. On the other hand, Carolina is a squad that should be difficult to defeat because they are now playing well and have strong players throughout the roster. They can’t, however, just coast through this one. The Flyers must be prepared because they will probably start the game strong.

Forecast: Carolina prevails 3-1.

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