Stanley Cup Final Game 3 Preview: Blackhawks at Flyers

With their backs against the boards, the Philadelphia Flyers host the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday night in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final (8:05 p.m. ET, Versus).

Rarely does a team come back to win after losing the first two games of a playoff series. Teams that have won the first two games of the Stanley Cup Final have gone on to win 31 out of 33 times.

While history is certainly not on their side, the Flyers did manage to comeback from a 3-0 deficit to beat the Boston Bruins in the second round of the playoffs.

Perhaps recognizing the Flyers’ resilience, oddsmakers at SBG Global have listed Philadelphia as a -130 favorite for Game 3. The total is set at 5.5.

Chicago has proven it can beat the Flyers with either offense or defense. The Blackhawks won a freewheeling Game 1 by a score of 6-5 then won a tight-checking Game 2 by a score of 2-1.

The Blackhawks are so deep in scoring that top forwards Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane have not even scored a goal in the series and the Blackhawks are still up 2-0.

Marian Hossa opened opened scoring for Chicago in the second period of Game 2; 28 seconds later Ben Eager scored the eventual game winner. Chicago also got excellent goaltending from Antti Niemi, who made 32 saves in the win, nearly half of which (14) came in the third period.

The Flyers did a lot of things right in Game 2 and still lost. Goaltender Michael Leighton played well but the Flyers couldn’t muster much offense until the third period when they outshot Chicago 15-4 and netted their only goal about five minutes into the frame.

Here are some key NHL betting stats for Wednesday night’s game:

During the regular season the Flyers were much better at home (24-14-3) than they were on the road (17-21-3). Philadelphia has also won nine of its last 10 home games against Chicago including a 3-2 win earlier this season. Seven of those games went under the total.

Despite those numbers, the Blackhawks have been road warriors this season. During the regular season they had the third-most road victories (23) in the league. The Hawks have even been better on the road in the playoffs having gone 7-1.

SBG Global is a veteran in the online sports betting business and is one of SharpBettor.com’s trusted partners. SBG offers up to an incredible 295 percent in sign-up bonuses.