Calgary Flames vs. Montreal Canadiens Prediction, NHL Odds
Flames are looking to get out Johnathan Huberdeau out of his current funk and playing just hours from where he grew up could do the trick. Huberdeau has scored 30 points in 32 career games versus the Canadiens.
Montreal has been very busy this past week, playing their fifth game in the past seven days tonight.
Puck drop from the Bell Centre is set for 7 PM EST. The NHL odds have the Flames as -150 moneyline favourites.
Flames vs. Canadiens NHL Betting Odds
The Habs have had Calgary’s number of the past few seasons and will be looking for their sixth straight win over the struggling Flames. In two meetings last season, the Canadiens won both games 2-1. These matchups have been typically low-scoring, playing the OVER/UNDER 4-8-1 in their past 13 games.
Calgary failed to cover in their 4-1 loss in Ottawa on Saturday, breaking a four-game streak ATS and moving their record in that column to 5-9. The game also played the UNDER breaking a 4-0-1 run on the OVER/UNDER. After a slow start offensively they have managed to pot at least four in three of their past four games. They are still in the bottom 10 league-wide in goals for (37) and against (52) through 14 games.
The Habs have also had trouble keeping the puck out of their net, allowing 53 goals in 14 games. They have been scored on five or more times in three of their past five games, losing each of those contests. The goal-scoring has not been able to bail them out at all so far either, as they have only scored more than three once in their past 10.
Calgary Flames
After a disastrous start to the campaign, the Flames won back-to-back games putting them at 4-7-1 before setting off for three games in Eastern Canada. They had a strong game in Toronto, losing 5-4 in a shootout on Friday, but looked mediocre again in their 4-1 loss in Ottawa on Saturday.
Blake Coleman (4) was the lone goal scorer for Calgary in the loss, giving goaltender Dustin Wolf very little goal support in his season debut.
After being quite vocal about his displeasure with his team’s early performance, 28-year-old defenceman Nikita Zadorov wants out of Calgary. The Flames have been dealing with rumours like this all off-season as well and the slow start could force first-year GM Craig Conroy to make a move.
Montreal Canadiens
Coming off back-to-back huge 3-2 overtime wins over their original six rivals in the Detroit Red Wings and Boston Bruins, Montreal was rolling going into a game versus the red-hot Vancouver Canucks Sunday night.
The Habs’ defence was unable to slow down Vancouver, who has the highest-scoring offence in the league. After allowing three straight goals in the second period, Mike Matheson (4) scored on the powerplay and Arber Xhekaj (1) scored in the dying minutes, but they allowed two empty netters for the 5-2 final.
Matheson is red hot at the moment picking up five points (2G 3A) during this three-game point streak. His 12 points (4G 8A) through 15 games is good for 10th in scoring amongst defensemen.
Sophomore Juraj Slavkovsky took 6 shots on goal versus Vancouver and was named third star of the game, in what fans are seeing as his best game of the season so far. He scored two points against the Flames last season and Tuesday could serve as a confidence booster.
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