Temperatures reached a 77 degrees Fahrenheit on Friday afternoon. That’s the good news for the locals.
The good thing is that it reached 77 degrees Fahrenheit — just 1 day before the Stadium Series outdoor NHL game at Heinz Field between the Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins.
This could result in ice conditions playing with a large element in the outcome of the sport, something that puck bettors should keep in mind. Temperatures were expected to be around 60 degrees as of Saturday morning, which is sure to create the ice soft and chippy after play gets going if it doesn’t get cold in a rush.
It’s supposed to be around 29 degrees Fahrenheit by sport time at 8 p.m. ET at Pittsburgh, however that might not be chilly, quickly enough to fix the soft ice.
Don’t be surprised when we see bouncing pucks and a slower-paced match. Which I believe is an advantage for the Flyers.
“I think our competitive advantage is the speed game. We have to be more determined than our competitors,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said at a media event on Friday in Heinz Field.
A slower-paced game could mean some value to the underdog here. That’s some big value considering the Pens opened as heavy -210 faves with the Flyers at +185.
It also might mean we see a more careful game from the players. Nobody wants to find injuries, which can be more inclined to happen on inconsistent icehockey, especially considering Pens star Sidney Crosby suffered a concussion in Pittsburgh’s last game at Heinz Field in 2011.
When it comes to a warm-weather baseball match such as this, the frequent logic is that the sport will be slower and goals will be fewer. That would mean UNDER the 5.5-goal total. This was the case in Dodger Stadium in 2014 when the Ducks skated into a 3-0 win over the Kings in 63-degree weather.
“It was a bit slower than a rinks, but it had been smooth,” Anaheim’s Teemu Selanne said following the match. “We are used to not-good out ice (West) anyhow”
Keep a watch ahead of the match to understand what’s being said on Twitter about the ice conditions before you place your wager on this one. Bouncing pucks don’t make it easy on goalies either and Pittsburgh is on pace to be the highest-scoring group (3.47 targets per match ) from the salary cap era next to the 2009-10 Capitals.
If you are betting in-game, the Pens are 25-0 when leading after two periods this season, based on NHL on NBC stats. This makes them the only undefeated team in that area this year and they were 39-0 when leading after two periods this past year in the regular season.
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