NHL Thursday best bets: Pens to stay hot vs. Flyers

We are off to a fantastic start to the week with our best bets, nailing both picks in consecutive days.

We'll look to stay hot as we attack this huge 11-game slate.

The Philadelphia Flyers posted a respectable 5-3-2 record over their last 10 games, but they're not playing overly well. At five-on-five, Philadelphia ranks 25th in expected goals against and 31st in shot attempts against per 60 minutes.

Those numbers aren't good, and there's reason to believe they're about to get even worse for the Flyers. As if playing without their best forward (Sean Couturier) and best defenseman (Ryan Ellis) wasn't problematic enough, the team recently placed Claude Giroux, Travis Konecny, Ivan Provorov, and Travis Sanheim, among others, onto the COVID-19 list.

Philadelphia is now severely lacking in both star power and depth. That's far from ideal, especially against a team like the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The Penguins own a remarkable 9-1-0 record over their last 10 games. Pittsburgh ranks in the top three in both shot share (56.42%) and expected goal share (58.29%) over this hot streak.

What's impressive is the Pens did a lot of that while missing key players. Jake Guentzel and Bryan Rust just returned, though Jeff Carter won't be back for Thursday's contest.

Pittsburgh is firing on all cylinders, and Philadelphia's key players are dropping like flies. I think this is a big mismatch, and - even in a back-to-back situation for the Penguins - I expect that to shine through.

Bet: Penguins inside regulation (-135)

The Columbus Blue Jackets are in a really tough spot. They've won just three of their last 10 games and struggled mightily to defend in that time.

At five-on-five, the Blue Jackets sit 28th in expected goals against per 60 and dead last in shot attempts against per 60. They've fared no better on the penalty kill, conceding expected goals at a higher rate than all but the New York Islanders.

A lot of those numbers came with Zach Werenski in the lineup. Columbus put the star blue-liner onto the COVID-19 list ahead of the team's game Tuesday. His Blue Jackets certainly missed him as they gave up eight goals, 38 shots, and 77 shot attempts to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The New Jersey Devils are not Tampa Bay's caliber. However, they've played better hockey of late, winning three of four on the back of a breakout from Jack Hughes (nine points in four games).

I expect Hughes, Jesper Bratt, Nico Hischier, and some of the Devils' top weapons to cause Columbus all kinds of problems in this game.

Bet: Devils inside regulation (-105)

Todd Cordell is a sports betting writer at theScore. Be sure to follow him on Twitter @ToddCordell.

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