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Jeremy Perry
Arizona Coyotes vs. Calgary Flames: NHL Odds, Prediction
On Tuesday, the Coyotes visit the Calgary Flames, who are coming off a slump-busting 3-2 win over the Edmonton Oilers. That ended the Flames ugly seven-game losing streak. Was that game just an aberration or will they show up with some effort against the Coyotes too?
Coyotes vs Flames Betting Analysis
It’s hard to lay juice with the Flames in this spot. They’ve been one of the worst teams to bet in the month of March, costing bettors -8.55 units this month alone. Arizona has been one of the most profitable teams this month, producing +6.75 units for backers.
Playing at home hasn’t been much of an advantage for Calgary. They’ve lost five of their last seven at home with the two wins coming against Edmonton. Not including Edmonton, the Flames have lost seven of their last eight at home.
Arizona Coyotes
Since the middle of February, the Coyotes have been a very competent team. Their hope is that their strong finish to the season springboards them next year. After the worst team in the NHL for the first three and a half months, Arizona has actually played very well. They are 16-8-2 over their last 26 contests. To put that in perspective, if you flesh out those numbers over a full season, that’s a pace of 107 points, which would put them among the top four seeds.
Goaltender Antti Raanta has led the way and he’s arguably been the best netminder in the NHL this month. He’s 7-1-0 in March with a 1.51 GAA and a .952 save percentage. His .944 save percentage since the All-Star break is phenomenal. At the same time, the Coyotes offense has come to play as they are averaging 3.06 goals per game in March. That only puts them in the middle of the pack in the NHL (14th) but that’s significantly better than the 2.34 goals per game they averaged before the All-Star break (second-worst in the league).
This team has won three of four and is clicking right now. Why bet against them in this spot – especially when they’re the dog?
Calgary Flames
The Flames finally earned a win to end their ugly seven-game losing streak. Calgary has been in a complete nosedive since the middle of February and they’ve been a below average team since the middle of January. The Flames were 25-16-4 on January 14th and have just nine wins in their last 32 games. On a smaller scale, this is a team that has lost 12 of their last 16 games. They were in the thick of the playoff race before this but now they’ve been eliminated.
One of the main issues has been goaltending. All-Star goaltender Mike Smith has missed a lot of action in the latter part of the season and in the games that he has played, he’s been a mess. Prior to the All-Star break, he had a 2.39 GAA and a .926 save percentage. Since then, he has a 3.45 GAA and an ugly .886 save percentage. About the only good news is that he’s facing his former team and might get up for this game.
