Philadelphia Flyers vs. Pittsburgh Penguins Game Preview, Picks & Odds for Saturday, April 18, 2026

By Thom Cunningham | Apr 17, 2026, 9:33pm

An interstate series in Pennsylvania sees the Pittsburgh Penguins take on the Philadelphia Flyers with massive bragging rights on the line. The Flyers went on a surprise run to end up in the playoffs, while Pittsburgh’s slow start couldn’t keep Sidney Crosby’s club out of the postseason as well. Let’s go through the betting data for Game 1 from the PPG Paints Arena on Saturday, April 18.

Flyers vs. Penguins Betting Analysis

The Over seems to be a likely play on our end, with Pittsburgh seeing over seven goals scored per game inside PPG this season. The winning team has scored five or more goals in three of five meetings, while Pittsburgh also led all NHL teams with 47 Overs this season with 24 coming at home. Another standout piece of data to support the Over is that the Pens have hit the Over in 14 of 15 games when playing at night.

Philly has also seen the Over 1.5 1P goal total market hit in six straight games when playing at night. The puck line does have value as well, with Pittsburgh covering in three of four games against Philadelphia along with four straight games as the favorite. With that said, Philadelphia went 52-30 on the PL this season, second-best among the NHL – so we differ back to the total.

Flyers vs. Penguins Best Bet, Pick & Prediction

Best Bet: Over 6 (-110)
Score Prediction: PIT 5, PHI 3

Flyers vs. Penguins Game Odds

Flyers vs. Penguins Game Information

Date: Saturday, April 18, 2026
Time: 8:00 p.m. ET
Network: ESPN
Location: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Venue: PPG Paints Arena – 7.2 goals per game; 24-15-1 O/U
Series Score: 0-0
Series Preview

Flyers vs. Penguins Betting Resources

Flyers vs. Penguins Key Players

Pittsburgh Penguins

Sidney Crosby – Season Stats: 29 goals, 45 assists
Bryan Rust – Season Stats: 29 goals, 36 assists
Stuart Skinner – Season Stats: 23-17-9, 2.92 GAA, .888 SV%

Philadelphia Flyers

Owen Tippett – Season Stats: 28 goals, 23 assists, -6
Trevor Zegras – Season Stats: 26 goals, 41 assists
Dan Vlader – Season Stats: 29-14-7, 2.42 GAA, .906 SV%

Photo Credit: AP/Jason Behnken

Thom Cunningham

Thom Cunningham is the Lineups.com News Editor and has been involved with sports media for almost two decades at Spectrum, VegasInsider.com, Oddschecker, VSiN and much more as a content producer - focused on the betting and gaming space over the last decade tracking insights, data analytics and covering various markets from the NFL to the Oscars.