With only a few days left in the regular season, both the Tennessee and Alberta-based units can make the playoffs. Each is on the outside looking in, albeit by only a few points. That said, none of this will matter should the Winnipeg Jets win their remaining contests.

Darryl Sutter’s Flames are pinned as -197 favourites on the NHL odds’ moneyline and at +137 on the puckline. The total is established a 6.0

Predators vs. Flames NHL Betting Odds

Monday is the third and final meeting between these clubs. The Predators took the spoils in both the first two, one of which was in Calgary (4-1), the other in Nashville (2-1). The Tennessee squad absolutely needs a season sweep of the Flames if they have any chance of keeping their playoff aspirations – already dim – on life support. Calgary trails Winnipeg by one point, and Nashville trails by three. At best a win would put the Preds and Flames level on points but the former would have the tie-breaker.

The Predators haven’t done themselves many favours in trying to snatch the final playoff-worthy seed. They’re only 5-5 in their last ten games, proving to be maddeningly inconsistent. However, one can argue that the schedule has been brutal. They played back-to-back games recently against the Stars, Golden Knights and Hurricanes, and actually won two. The under has connected in six in the last eight games.

Calgary is doing what it can for a final playoff push, although they too are proving to be infuriatingly untrustworthy. One would think that defeating the very club they’re chasing, the Jets, would be a momentous occasion (they did the deed last Wednesday, 3-1). It isn’t that the victory wasn’t impressive. The issue was those two points were sandwiched between losses to teams that are already eliminated from postseason contention, Chicago and Vancouver.

Nashville Predators

Opportunity certainly beckoned on Saturday night in Manitoba when the visiting Predators took on the Jets. Win would have allowed them to leapfrog over Winnipeg in the standings.

With all the chips on the table, the Jets were simply the better side. The hosts created far more scoring opportunities, hounding Juuse Saros’ net all evening. Make no mistake, Saros was great, stopping 36 of the 38 shots sent in his direction, but Winnipeg also hit the post three times. After frustrating Winnipeg during the first period and early goings of the second, Saros was finally beaten Mark Scheifele (40^th) on a shot that bounced off the post, then off the netminder before trickling into the net. It was the kind of night for Nashville when the little things didn’t go their way. Neal Pionk (10^th) doubled the Jets lead and that was all they needed. Connor Hellebuyck shielded his goal from all 28 Predator attempts. Preds lose a big one, 2-0.

Calgary Flames

Later that evening Calgary was in Vancouver to handle its business. It was a strange sequence of games for the Flames. Calgary had been in B.C. the previous Friday, and trailed 2-0 early before storming back in a high-flying 5-4 overtime win.

Eight days later, they were back at the scene and, wouldn’t you know it, trailed 2-0 in the first period through goals by Cole McWard (first) and Elias Pettersson (38^th). The score stood for the entirety of the second, but the Flames sensed an urgency in the first seconds of the final frame. Elias Lindholm (22^nd) got his side on the board 38 seconds in. Nazem Kadri (24^th), who has played much better lately, levelled the terms at 6:06. But there would be no comeback this time. Both teams battled hard for what was left of the third period and overtime (when Thatcher Demko made a sensational save on a two-on-one). Andrei Kuzmenko was the only goal scorer of the shootout. Flames earn a point in the 3-2 defeat but needed two.

NHL Prediction: Who Will Win Predators vs. Flames?

PREDATORS

Away

2

FLAMES

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