April 10th NHL Odds, Lines, and Best Bets – Bruins Battle Flyers

• There are 10 NHL games on the schedule for Saturday, April 10th
• Robert Duff lost both of his Thursday picks, leaving his NHL record at 22-17 (+3.27 units won)
• The Calgary Flames-Vancouver Canucks is postponed due to a COVID-19 outbreak in the ranks of the Canucks. Instead, the Flames will face the Edmonton Oilers

When it comes to Saturday’s NHL picks, it’s basically now or never for the Philadelphia Flyers. The Flyers trail the Boston Bruins by six points for the fourth and final East Division playoff position.

Oddsmakers aren’t backing Philadelphia, however. It’s the Bruins who are listed as -132 favorites as these two teams clash for the third time in six days. Both Boston and Philly are 3-1 against the spread in their past four games.

The San Jose Sharks and Los Angeles Kings are both hovering on the cusp of the final West Division playoff spot. As these two California clubs meet Saturday, neither can afford to drop the two points. The Sharks, who’ve won four games straight-up against LA, are the -139 chalk.

April 10th NHL Odds

Odds as of April 10th.

Must Win for Flyers

On top of their six-point advantage in the standings, the Bruins hold two games in hand on Philadelphia. Though the Flyers and Bruins split the first two meetings of this key three-game showdown, Philly won the first game in overtime, meaning the Bruins gained three of a possible four points from the two games.

The Bruins are 6-0-1 against the Flyers this season. Boston has scored 15 of its 29 goals against Philadelphia in the third period and overtime. The Flyers have been outscored 33-11 in the first period over the past 21 games.

On the NESN pregame show, they note that this play from last night could have been the play where Charlie McAvoy injured himself.

Granted, he's taken a whole lot of punishment, especially over the last few weeks. pic.twitter.com/Z5KPkiOVcA

— Conor Ryan (@ConorRyan_93) April 6, 2021

Minus Tuukka Rask (upper-body injury) and Jaroslav Halak (positive coronavirus test), the Bruins handed their net to rookie Jeremy Swayman for the past two games. He’s now 2-0 as an NHLer.

Boston will also be without defenseman Charlie McAvoy (upper-body injury). Philadelphia defenseman Robert Hagg (shoulder) returned from an 11-game absence for Thursday’s 3-2 shootout loss to the New York Islanders.

Pick: Boston Bruins (-132), 1 unit

Kings Are Shark Bait

Just when it looked as though the Kings were playing themselves into the playoff chase, they tumbled like Humpty Dumpy. And now it’s doubtful that all the Kings horses and all the Kings men will be able to put them back into the race again.

As they prepared to play Friday at San Jose, LA is 3-7 over the past 10 games. That stumble includes four losses to San Jose. At home, the Sharks were 5-0-2 in the past seven when facing the Kings.

A familiar foe. pic.twitter.com/dLNQLSmeFH

— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) April 9, 2021

Entering Friday’s game against LA, the Sharks are 4-1 over the past five games. That stretch was highlighted by a pair of wins over the 24-12-2 Minnesota Wild.

Sharks forward Logan Couture, hurt when he blocked a shot on Wednesday against Arizona, is expected to play.

Pick: San Jose Sharks (-139), 1 unit