It was a banner night for Mike Smith, who helped his teammates claim a definitive win against the Colorado Avalanche in game 1 of their postseason series and shut down plenty of naysayers in the process.

Avalanche vs. Flames Stanley Cup Playoffs Betting Analysis

Thursday’s game between these clubs didn’t really start to take off until more than halfway through the game, when a goal was finally scored at 14:25 into the second period. What makes that first goal so interesting is that it came from rookie left-winger Andrew Mangiapane. His unassisted effort was was one for the highlight reels, and the first playoff goal of his career.

Calgary also saw great work from Matthew Tkachuk who got two goals, one of them an empty netter. Mikael Backlund scored with an assist from Sam Bennett.

Sports Interaction bettors are overwhelmingly placing their bets on the Flames to get another win, with 90% backing the Calgary club. The Flames are currently priced as a -240 favorite.

Colorado Avalanche

It wasn’t a lack of effort that kept Philipp Grubauer from saving his team during game 1 of this series. He was dealing with one of the most intimidatingly good offences in the league, and couldn’t keep all 32 shots against him out of the net. It likely won’t get any easier for him in Game 2 at the Saddledome.

The bigger issue was that the team in front of him couldn’t seem to get things going. Nathan MacKinnon lost 13 of 17 faceoffs, and Mikko Rantanen, who historically has done well against the Flames, missed the net on each of his four shots on goal. Rantanen is fresh off an injury and is expected to improve his play as the postseason continues.

Calgary Flames

As Mike Smith made one impressive save after another on Thursday, he heard a sound coming from the stands that he’d yet to hear in his 13-year career in the National Hockey League. The sound of a thrilled crowd chanting his nickname, Smitty. After the game he spoke about the experience to press, saying “I haven’t quite heard anything like that before in my career. It gives you some confidence when you hear your name getting chanted.” It was Smith’s first playoff shutout since 2012.

Expect to see Smith between the pipes for game 2 of this series on Saturday night. That Thursday night win was Calgary’s first playoff W since 2015 when they beat Anaheim 4-3 before being ousted in the series.

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