NHL Playoffs 2018: Schedule, Odds and Predictions for Sunday's Stanley Cup Games

Staying alive in the Stanley Cup Playoffs is once again the objective for the Philadelphia Flyers and Colorado Avalanche on Sunday.

The Flyers and Avalanche face more favorable situations in their respective Game 6 showdowns against the Pittsburgh Penguins and Nashville Predators since they will be playing on home ice.

The goal for both home teams Sunday is to parlay the momentum from Game 5 and put more pressure on the favored team going back to their arena for Game 7.

It won't be an easy task for either underdog to find new postseason life for the second straight contest, but anything is possible when it comes to the playoffs.

Sunday Stanley Cup Playoff Schedule

Game 6: Pittsburgh (-159; bet $159 to win $100) at Philadelphia (+123; bet $100 to win $123) 3 p.m., NBC

Game 6: Nashville (-186) at Colorado (+140), 7 p.m., NBCSN

Odds via OddsShark.

All times ET.

Predictions

Philadelphia Rides Neuvirth into Game 7

After four games of subpar goalie play, the Flyers received a strong performance in net from Michal Neuvirth in his first start of the postseason.

Although he let in two goals, the 30-year-old netminder made 30 saves and kept the Flyers in the game so they could pounce for a road victory in the third period.

Neuvirth isn't a stranger to attempting to bail out the Flyers in the postseason, as he won Games 4 and 5 in 2016 against the Washington Capitals before losing in Game 6.

With the starting job now his to lose, Neuvirth carries a good amount of confidence entering the most important game of the season, per Bill Meltzer of the team's official website.

"I've been practicing well, and I'm feeling good about my game, so I came in confident and obviously the great start that we had helped me a lot to settle in," Neuvirth said.

Gene J. Puskar/Associated Press

In nine regular-season appearances against the Penguins, Neuvirth has a 2.5 goals against average and .912 save percentage, and he's allowed two goals or less in his past five playoff games.

It is going to be a hard task for Neuvirth to keep those numbers with Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Phil Kessel and others bearing down on the Philadelphia net.

As long as Neuvirth makes a few early saves to keep momentum on the side of the Flyers, he should settle in for a strong performance that sends the series back to PPG Paints Arena for Game 7.

Nashville Finishes Off Colorado

The two games the Predators have played at Pepsi Center in their best-of-seven series with the Avalanche have been different, to say the least.

In Game 3, Colorado forced Nashville to play catch-up from the start, as the home side scored the first four goals of the contest.

The Western Conference champion reversed its fortune in Game 4 by opening up with three tallies before holding on for a victory behind the play of goalie Pekka Rinne.

Game 5 in Nashville was more of a battle, as the Predators were halted by Colorado goalie Andrew Hammond, who stopped 44 of the 46 shots he faced.

Even though Colorado carries momentum into Game 6, the Predators are banking on their experience from a year ago to finish off the series Sunday, per Brooks Bratten of the team's official website.

"We know the situation," Nashville center Mike Fisher said. "There's no panic. We would've loved to have gotten it done last night and been relaxing today, but playoffs are tough. We're playing a great hockey team, and things happen. It's just how you regroup. ... We're only concerned about one game, and that's tomorrow's. That's our focus."

David Zalubowski/Associated Press

The key for the Predators is to keep creating chances—even if Hammond finds more success in between the pipes.

Nashville has scored the most goals of any Western Conference playoff team with 17, and it's had 14 players contribute to a goal. That means there is no easy shift for Hammond and the Colorado defense to face.

Austin Watson has the most playoff points on the team with six, while Filip Forsberg, Colton Sissons, Ryan Johansen and Craig Smith have scored multiple goals.

With a relentless pressure for 60 minutes, the Predators should score a few goals to finish off the series and earn a date with the Winnipeg Jets in the second round.

Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90. Statistics obtained from Hockey Reference.