The Saint Louis Blues shut out the Philadelphia Flyers 2-0 as NHL betting underdogs on Monday at Wells Fargo Center. The total went under for fans who bet on hockey. Blues goalie Carter Hutton made 26 saves for his third shutout of the season and second in his last three starts. Winger Kenny Agostino made his first NHL appearance in almost a year after being recalled from the Chicago Wolves of the American Hockey League in lieu of injured forward Robby Fabbri – out for the rest of the season with a torn ACL. Agostino leads the AHL with 42 assists and 60 points in 48 games. Agostino scored his second league goal – and first since 2014 – put the finishing touch on the score board when he beat Flyers goaltender Michal Neuvirth on a breakaway 2:10 into the third period. Paul Stastny scored the first goal at 15:22 of the second period – his third in three games.
Neuvirth made 14 saves for Philly. The Flyers have not scored since Sean Couturier’s empty-net goal with 14 seconds to go in a 3-1 win versus the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday, 122:49 ago. Furthermore, Philadelphia’s three leading goal scorers, Wayne Simmonds, Brayden Schenn and Jakub Voracek, have failed to score in their last four games. Additionally, Philly was shutout for the second time in a row following a 1-0 OT loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday. Philadelphia outshot St. Louis 11-1 in the first, during which they had two shots on goal on two power plays. However, the Flyers finished 0-for-4 with six shots on goal on the power play, and are 3 for 32 (9.3%) in the last nine games. Philly is 26-28-0 against the NHL betting spread this season. The over/under has gone 25-23-0 for Flyers fans who bet on hockey.
Philly was shutout in straight games for the first time since the 2015 season. Moreover, this was the first time they have been blanked in consecutive home games since the 1999 season. In stark contrast to the first period, the Flyers were outshot 11-4 in the second. Head coach
Dave Hakstol challenged the Blues’ first goal on the basis that defenseman Carl Gunnarson didn’t keep the puck in the zone earlier in the sequence. “In my opinion, the puck is probably out of the zone,” Hakstol said. As the replay was inconclusive, the call stuck – marking the 36th time the opposing team has scored first against Philly, and the fourth straight game in which the Flyers failed to score a goal in the first period.
Former Flyers goalie Hutton was not really challenged by Philly’s offense. Nevertheless, having allowed 13 goals in his past three showings, Hutton probably felt he had justify head coach Mike Yeo’s confidence in him. St. Louis won for the second time in three games since Yeo took over from Ken Hitchcock on February 1st following a 1-5-0 run. Blues fans who bet on hockey will be interested to know that St. Louis is 3-6 against the NHL betting spread in the last nine games.