Calgary Flames vs. New Jersey Devils Prediction, NHL Odds
Rarely, does a team outside the playoff picture at this point in the season pull out enough wins to overtake a playoff team, especially one that just offloaded their top centreman, but the Flames look to do just that after taking down the top team in the East their last time out.
The Devils are slowly getting back to full health after the All-Star break, but is it too late for a push, behind by five points?
The puck drop will drop at 7:00 PM EST. at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. Our NHL odds have the Devils as the -140 favourite with the OVER/UNDER set at 6 goals.
Flames vs. Devils NHL Betting Odds
New Jersey swept the Flames in last year’s two-game season series and will look to do the same Thursday after taking down the Flames 4-2 back in December, making Thursday a possible four consecutive wins. Every matchup tends to be close, disregarding empty netters all but one of their past five games were decided by a single goal.
Calgary has covered the spread just once in their past five games, but they are riding a three-game win streak on the road coming into Thursday night, in which they have covered the spread in each.
The Flames have been so mediocre this season, that it must be hard for their fans to watch. They have an offence that is 16th in scoring and their defence is only slightly better sitting in 13th, helping them to a 26-22-2 record on the OVER/UNDER.
Opening the season, New Jersey was pegged as a cup contender and has not been able to live up to that expectation so far. Because of what they were expected to be this season, they have only covered the spread in 16 of their 48 games this season, the second-fewest covers in the league. Their combination of a dangerous offence (3.46 goals per game) and poor goaltending (3.54 goals against average) has helped them play the OVER 29-18-1, including four of the past five.
Calgary Flames
The first big trade of the season saw the Flames ship first-line centre Elias Lindholm to the Canucks just before he was supposed to represent them at the All-Star game. Nobody expected them to play better hockey without him, but that is what happened in their first game in Boston on Tuesday night.
Part of the return for Lindholm was 28-year-old Russian sniper Andrei Kuzmenko who made an immediate impact getting the Flames powerplay on the board early in the first.
Calgary rolled that momentum, getting goals from rookie Connor Zary, Johnathan Huberdeau and Noah Hanifin to beat the Boston Bruins 4-1.
Huberdeau had three points (1G 2A) for the first time since December of 2022 and Nazem Kadri had his first three-point game of the season, notching three assists.
Just three points out of a wildcard spot in the Western Conference is not a terrible position to be in. If Calgary can pick it up in the final 30-game stretch the playoffs are not completely out of the picture.
New Jersey Devils
The Devils entered the third period with a healthy 3-1 lead on Tuesday night versus the Colorado Avalanche at home. A chaotic final frame saw the Avs score two goals in thirty seconds, tying the game at the midway point and draining all life from the Prudential Center. With less than two and a half minutes to go in the game defenceman John Marino put the Devils back in front with his fourth goal of the season. New Jersey would add an empty netter to seal the deal, upsetting the Avalanche 5-3 and snapping a two-game skid.
A full team effort made up for missing two of their top forwards Tyler Toffoli and Jack Hughes. Jersey got goals from five different players and got solid goaltending from Vitek Vanacek.
There is a possibility superstar Jack Hughes returns tonight for the Devils after missing the past 11 games with an upper-body injury. The team has only won four games in his absence and needs their all-star back in the lineup. Tyler Toffoli should also be back to play against his former team. He missed the last contest because he was sick.
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