NHL Betting Preview: Philadelphia Flyers vs. Detroit Red Wings Odds, Analysis

The Philadelphia Flyers (39-26-13) visit the Detroit Red Wings (40-28-11) in an important Eastern Conference matchup with playoff implications Wednesday night.

The Red Wings are consensus minus-120 home betting favorites (bet $120 to win $100) at sportsbooks monitored by Odds Shark as they try to move one step closer to extending their NHL-record postseason streak to 25 straight years.

Detroit was close to seeing that run come to an end last season but earned a playoff berth in the final week of the regular season. That could be the case again here because the Red Wings are tied with the Flyers and Boston Bruins—all three teams have 91 points.

The Bruins are on the outside right now since they have played one more game than Detroit and two more than Philadelphia.

The Flyers hold the last wild-card spot in the East and cannot move up more than that since they are the fifth-place team in the Metropolitan Division.

Detroit visits Boston on Thursday after hosting Philly and likely needs to earn a split of those two games to avoid closing out the regular season with what could be a must-win situation against the New York Rangers. A sweep of the Flyers and Bruins would clinch a playoff spot.

The Red Wings have won their last two games to put themselves in a much more favorable position. They beat the Minnesota Wild at home and the Toronto Maple Leafs on the road as chalk both times. They have also won six of nine to move ahead of a Boston team that has struggled down the stretch in dropping two in a row and eight of 10.

Philadelphia is coming off a 6-2 road loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday, which snapped a three-game winning streak, with each victory taking place at home. The Flyers have two more home games left after facing Detroit, as they host the Maple Leafs and Penguins before visiting the New York Islanders in their regular-season finale.

Philly is 6-1 in the past seven meetings with the Red Wings, according to the Odds Shark NHL Database, with the over going 6-2 in the last eight matchups.