Buffalo Sabres vs Philadelphia Flyers | Game 5 Preview, Odds, Free Pick | Sportsbookbuzz.com

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Buffalo Sabres at Philadelphia Flyers
Friday, April 22, 2011 at 7:30 pm EST on Versus

Puck Line: Flyers -1.5
Money Line: Buffalo +140 / Philadelphia -160
Over/Under: 5.5

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The Buffalo Sabres and the Philadelphia Flyers head back to the Wells Fargo Center for Game 5 of their first round, best-of-seven matchup in the NHL Eastern Conference playoffs with the series knotted at two games apiece. The puck is set to drop at 7:30 p.m. (ET) and the game will be broadcast on VERSUS.

It must have seemed like Déjà vu in Game 4 of this series as Buffalo came away with a 1-0 victory after taking Game 1 by the exact same score. The main difference is that the Sabres were a 108 home favorite on Wednesday night and a 140 road underdog last Thursday. In between, they lost the second game 5-4 as a 146 road underdog and Game 3 of this series 4-2 as a 116 home favorite. The total has gone 2-2 in the four games.

The Sabres averaged 2.93 goals-a-game in the regular season, but have only managed to score eight goals in this series. Thomas Vanek, who led Buffalo with 32 goals and 73 total points in the regular season, tallied two goals in Game 2 but has been held scoreless ever since. Patrick Kaleta scored the game-winner in Game 1 and Jason Pominville scored the only goal in Game 4. Other than that, Buffalo’s offense has been pretty much held in check.

The hot and cold play of goalie Ryan Miller in this series heated up at just the right time as he stopped all 32 shots he faced on Wednesday night. This performance was even more impressive than the 35 shots he stopped in Game 1 as he had to make a number of quality saves to preserve the win. Buffalo has also been rock-solid against the Flyers power play with a 90.5 percent kill rate.

Much like its opponent, Philadelphia’s offense has scored far below its 3.12 goals-a-game average with nine goals sandwiched around two donuts. One of those goals was an empty-netter in Game 3, making these numbers look even worse. The Flyer’s power play has converted on just 9.5 percent of their opportunities verse a season average of 16.6 percent.

Philadelphia’s top two goal scorers, Danny Briere and Jeff Carter have been held to a combined three goals and one assist. Carter left Wednesday’s game after taking a hard hit to his knee and is currently listed as questionable for Friday night. Defenseman Kimmo Timonen is tied with Claude Giroux in points; each recording one goal and two assists.

Flyer’s coach Peter Laviolette decided to pull Sergei Bobrovsky after he gave up three quick goals in the second period of Game 2 and replace him with veteran goaltender Brian Boucher. So far the move has paid off as Boucher has given up just four goals in 2 ½ games. He has a save percentage of .954 which is a few points higher than his .916 percentage in 29 regular season starts. Philadelphia’s defense has also done a good job defending the power play with a kill rate of 84.2 percent.

Buffalo is 19-18 this season as an underdog and the total has gone ‘over’ in 51.2 percent of its games. Philadelphia is 36-27 as a favorite and the total has stayed ‘under’ in 54.9 percent of its games. Head-to-head, they have now split the eight games they have played this season with the home team each winning and losing twice.

The odds makers have the Philadelphia Flyers as a -1.5 point favorite with an over/under of 5.5.

Check out the latest NHL Hockey Odds here.

Predictions: Ryan Miller is the reason this series is tied at two, but it is doubtful he will be able to completely shut down the Flyers’ offense on the road. Stick with Philly to regain the edge in this series with a win that stays ‘under’ the 5.5 total.

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