Calgary Flames vs. Boston Bruins: NHL Odds, Prediction
It’s Game No. 5 of a six-game road trip for the Calgary Flames on Tuesday night as they make their only visit of the season to Boston. The Bruins are trying to catch Tampa Bay for the Atlantic Division lead.
Flames vs. Bruins Betting Analysis
This is the Bruins’ last game before going out on a five-game trip. Last season, the teams split. The Flames won in Beantown, 2-1, and caught a bit of a break there as the Bruins didn’t start No. 1 goaltender Tuukka Rask, one of the best in the business, but backup Anton Khudobin. In addition, future Hall of Fame defenceman Zdeno Chara was out injured. Chad Johnson, now with Buffalo, was the No. 1 star with 35 saves. Sam Bennett had a goal and an assist.
In Calgary, the Bruins rolled to a 5-2 victory to snap the Flames’ 10-game winning streak at the time. It was Khudobin in net again. David Pastrnak had two goals for Boston, the second an empty-netter. Chara had an assist and was plus-4. Alex Chiasson, now with Washington, and Dougie Hamilton had the Calgary goals.
Of course, Boston traded Hamilton to Calgary in June 2015 for a 2015 first-round pick and two second-round picks that year. Hamilton has a goal and an assist in four career games against his former squad. Current Flames No. 1 goaltender Mike Smith has not had much success in 16 career meetings against Boston as he’s 3-12-0 with a 3.32 goals-against average and .887 save percentage. Not looking great for him to play Tuesday, though.
Calgary Flames
Sunday was a good news/bad news situation for the Flames (29-19-8). They won 3-2 at the New York Islanders but may have lost their All-Star goaltender Smith for a while. He suffered a lower-body injury (groin) with just two seconds left in the game. David Rittich came on to close things out and seems likely to start at least Tuesday. The Czech is 5-1-2 with a 2.70 GAA and .927 SV on the season. He won his last start on Feb. 8 at New Jersey in allowing two goals on 32 shots. Matthew Tkachuk was the No. 1 star Sunday with the tying goal at 9:38 of the third and the winner at 18:55. That makes the Flames one of a few teams with three 20-goal scorers in Sean Monahan (27), Tkachuk (20) and Micheal Ferland (20). Johnny Gaudreau is just two from that mark.
Boston Bruins
It might benefit Calgary that the Bruins (34-12-8) are at home here because they have been unstoppable on the road of late. Sunday, they won in New Jersey 5-3 for a 13th straight away game with at least one point. That’s tied for the fourth-longest streak in franchise history. The 2013-14 club went 20 in a row with at least one road point. Torey Krug had two goals vs. the Devils, one short-handed and one on the power play. Khudobin made 35 saves, but it’s likely to be Rask in this one. He’s 4-0-3 in seven career games against the Flames with a .161 goals-against average, .940 save percentage and two shutouts.
