Arizona Coyotes vs. Calgary Flames: NHL Odds, Prediction

Charlie Grant
November 30, 2017

It has been more than eight months since the Calgary Flames have been a favourite of -200 or better – and they hope this game will turn out as well as the last one did as they entertain the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday night. Arizona showed flashes of greatness in mid-November but has dropped three of its past four games.

Arizona Coyotes vs. Calgary Flames

Moneyline: Flames -225
Date: Thursday, November 30, 9 p.m. ET
Location: Scotiabank Saddledome, Calgary, Alta.

NHL Odds and Betting Analysis

As shocking it is to see the Flames such a heavy fave – its first foray north of -200 since beating Colorado 4-2 as a -275 option last March 27 – it’s easy to understand why. The Coyotes have just two regulation victories – yes, two – over their first 27 games, and are in tough with six of their next seven games coming away from Arizona. And Calgary has been a solid bounceback team, going 13-3 in its last 16 following a loss of three or more goals in its previous contest.

From a totals perspective, the Coyotes remain one of the league’s premier under plays, going below the total in 11 of their previous 13 games overall. Arizona is 1-7 O/U in its last eight road contests, and the teams have gone under in five of their last six meetings. Yet, while the Flames are also trending to the under – having exceeded the total just once in its previous five games – the Scotiabank Saddledome has seen four overs in the past five games there.

Arizona Coyotes

If there’s one reason for positivity about the Coyotes, it’s the team’s recent performance on special teams. Arizona has racked up seven power-play goals over its past seven games, moving the Coyotes to 22nd in overall man-advantage efficiency at 17.4 percent. Arizona has also excelled on the penalty kill, surrendering just two power-play tallies over that span to move into the middle of the pack league-wide at 80.3 percent.

Calgary Flames

The Flames’ penalty killing unit bottomed out earlier this month, surrendering four power-play goals in an 8-2 humiliation at the hands of the Detroit Red Wings. But Calgary has bounced back nicely from that debacle, allowing just two man-advantage in six goals since. That said, the Flames still rank dead last in the NHL in penalty-kill rate at 74.4 percent, and could be vulnerable against an Arizona power-play that has thrived over the past 2 ½ weeks.