Philadelphia Flyers vs. Florida Panthers: Prediction, Preview, Picks & Odds - 10/19/2022

Time: 7:30 p.m. ET

Venue: FLA Live Arena, Sunrise, FL

Where to watch: TNT

DraftKings: Panthers -320, Flyers +265

FanDuel: Panthers -335, Flyers +265

BetMGM: Panthers -303, Flyers +240

Caesars: Panthers -320, Flyers +250

Flyers: 3-0-0

Panthers: 2-1-0

So, uh, the Philadelphia Flyers. They are 3-0-0. OK, sure. Things don’t make sense, and they even came back to defeat the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday night. So, surely there’s no way they can do it again against the Florida Panthers on the second night of a back-to-back, right? Well, I guess we’re about to find out considering what the Flyers did was truly incredible. Down 2-0 in the second period, John Tortorella’s fighting Flyers scored three straight capped off by Noah Cates’ goal at 12:44 of the third period for the 3-2 win.

"I thought we had a good shift before that, so I knew their [defense] was a little bit tired," Cates said. "I think they were just kind of flapping in front of their net and I was coming in pretty hard. I got a stick on it, found it, and swung around and shot it."

This is truly one of the weirder stories that is surrounding the NHL world right now. Outside of the Vancouver Canucks just choking in epic ways every game, the Flyers have rallied twice in the past few days to get to 3-0. Carter Hart, for the moment, looks like the Carter Hart that everyone should expect at this point after he made 36 saves. Scott Laughton and James van Riemsdyk had the first two goals that cut into the Lightning lead and eventually tied it.

"Playing the key minutes at key times, that's what wins you games," Flyers coach John Tortorella said. "And you need to have really good goaltending. Carter was outstanding. He kept us in it, and we found a way at the end."

But again, there’s no way that this can be done twice in a row, right? Especially against a Panthers team that many expect to take that next leap now with Matthew Tkachuk in the fold? But this is the Panthers’ home opener and a raucous crowd in Sunrise, Florida is expected to take the helm, with Florida coming off a 5-3 loss to the Boston Bruins on Monday. But things may not be looking up at the moment after losing defenseman Aaron Ekblad to a lower-body injury.

"It wasn't a smooth night by any means; it was a hard-fought game," Florida coach Paul Maurice said. "If you're going to go down in the game, you should go down swinging, and I think we did that. So, I was really, really impressed with them."

Whether or not Maurice is the coach to get this team to a Stanley Cup remains to be seen, but they’re absolutely banking on Tkachuk’s addition. So far, that acquisition is paying off with two goals and two assists in three games. He’s not on the Jonathan Huberdeau level yet, but he might get there the longer he has the likes of Sasha Barkov and others to play with. 

The Panthers have a lot of expectations coming into this season and it’s a home crowd that should be ready to cheer on this group. I’d say there should be jitters for games like this, but we’re looking at a possibility that Florida runs all over Philadelphia in this one. Panthers win 5-3 

Flyers are 16-29 on the road when the total is 6 or more the last three years.

Panthers are 57-34 after a division game the last three years.

Panthers are 20-11 off a road loss the last three years.

Panthers are 12-6 following a loss by 3 goals or more the last three years.

Flyers:

Scott Laughton -- Kevin Hayes -- Travis Konecny

James van Riemsdyk -- Morgan Frost -- Tanner Laczynski

Joel Farabee -- Noah Cates -- Wade Allison

Nicolas Deslauriers -- Jackson Cates -- Zack MacEwen

Ivan Provorov -- Tony DeAngelo

Travis Sanheim -- Justin Braun

Egor Zamula -- Nick Seeler

Felix Sandstrom

Panthers:

Carter Verhaeghe -- Aleksander Barkov -- Sam Reinhart

Matthew Tkachuk -- Sam Bennett -- Rudolfs Balcers

Eetu Luostarinen -- Anton Lundell -- Colin White

Ryan Lomberg -- Nick Cousins -- Patric Hornqvist

Gustav Forsling -- Aaron Ekblad

Marc Staal -- Brandon Montour

Josh Mahura -- Radko Gudas

Sergei Bobrovsky

Points: Travis Konecny -- 4

Goals: Travis Konecny -- 3

Assists: Kevin Hayes -- 4

Goalie: Carter Hart -- 3-0-0, 2.00 GAA, .943 SV%

Points: Two tied -- 4

Goals: Two tied -- 2

Assists: Five tied -- 2

Goalie: Sergei Bobrovsky -- 1-1-0, 2.61 GAA, .924 SV%