Canadiens vs Flyers Game 5 Odds and Pick – Aug. 19

• The Philadelphia Flyers lead the Montreal Canadiens 3-1 in their first-round playoff series
• Game 5 will be played Wednesday, Aug. 19, at 8:00 PM Eastern (5:00 PM Pacific)
• Carter Hart enters Game 5 riding a shutout streak of over 120 minutes

When the Philadelphia Flyers face the Montreal Canadiens in Game 5 on Wednesday (Aug. 19, 8:00 PM ET), goalie Carter Hart will be looking to record a third-straight shutout and, at the same time, put his team into the second round of the NHL playoffs.

Up 3-1 in the best-of-seven series thanks to Tuesday’s 2-0 win, the Flyers are favored to close things out in Game 5.

Canadiens vs Flyers Game 5 Odds

Odds as of August 18th.

Comparing the odds for Game 5 with the odds for Game 4, you’ll notice plus money on the under five goals is no longer an option. While the value may not be as high, it’s still the best bet on the board for two key reasons.

Kirk Muller Has Already Lost His Team

Kirk Muller was thrust into the interim head coach role when Claude Julien was ruled out of the series due to health concerns. It hasn’t gone well for the former Carolina Hurricanes bench boss. In the most recent loss, he benched Brendan Gallagher, playing him only 13:07 (his second lowest total of the year). Gallagher tied for the team league in goals this year with 22 and is absolutely necessary if the team is to mount a comeback. Unfortunately, it seems like he’s quit on his coach from his post-game reaction to being stapled to bench.

Brendan Gallagher sounded extremely unimpressed with the way he was used during game 4. The Muller honeymoon is officially over, and lasted approximately 96 hours.

— Conor McKenna (@mckennaconor) August 18, 2020

Muller annoyed opposing coach Alain Vigneault by playing his top power-play unit late in Montreal’s lone win in the series and his team hasn’t scored since. It appears that the moment may be too big for Muller, which doesn’t bode well with his team’s back against the wall.

Carey Price Has Rare Off Night In Game 4

Philadelphia won Tuesday’s game 2-0, which makes it tough to lay blame on Price. That said, on the first goal, he was caught out of position and was beat with a clean wrist shot, top shelf. The second goal was much worse. Price tried to deflect the puck into the corner, only to see it bounce over his pad and into the net for a back-breaking insurance goal.

Again, the loss isn’t entirely his fault, but Price is better than he played in Game 4.

Another shutout.

A pretty solid encore, tbh. https://t.co/jFM8gF5Zft

— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) August 18, 2020

With that in mind, I expect a much different performance in Game 5. Carter Hart became the youngest goalie in 75 years to record back-to-back playoff shutouts. I don’t expect to see Price handing Hart the torch as Canada’s best goalie just yet. Win or lose, I’d expect a heroic performance from the Canadiens goalie Wednesday night.

Continue Betting the Under in Game 5

Oddsmakers are not shifting the total far enough in these playoffs. You’ll see football lines that vary greatly but somehow hockey totals almost always settle between 5 and 6. Looking at the Canadiens vs Flyers odds, the trends clearly show both teams are very comfortable with a brand of hockey that relies heavily on defense.

Carey Price is 4 and 4 with a .949 and a 1.48. I mean, if you are putting the blame on him, give your head a shake.

If Elias Sports Bureau wants to check if they have seen a .500 record with a .949 and a 1.48 before, I would like to know how many times that's been done.

— Brian Wilde (@BWildeMTL) August 18, 2020

The Under is 3-0-1 in the series and there’s little reason to bail on it now. Be smart, play the under again.

The Pick: Under 5 goals (-118)