Calgary Flames vs. Edmonton Oilers Prediction, NHL Odds
-
Nik Kowalski
Calgary comes into Saturday three points, but also three teams behind the West’s final playoff spot. An Oilers win would ensure them a top-three Pacific Division spot at the end of the night and would potentially move them into a tie for second place.
Saturday’s a back-to-back spot for the Oilers who dropped a 4-2 contest to Minnesota last night. Calgary’s been off since Thursday where they defeated Boston 3-2 in overtime. Puck drop at Rogers Place starts at 10 p.m. EST with the Oilers a -200 moneyline favourite on home ice and the over-under at 6.5 on the NHL odds.
Flames vs. Oilers NHL Betting Odds
The days of 9-6 barn burners between Calgary and Edmonton are of the past, as only one of these teams last five meetings has finished over the total. The Oilers are 2-0 versus the Flames this season, winning 5-2 on October 29 and 3-1 on January 20. Edmonton’s come out on top six of their last seven times hosting the Flames too.
Despite yesterday’s loss on home ice, Edmonton’s one of the top teams at home in the NHL with wins in 16 of their last 20 at Rogers Place. Calgary comes in hot on the road though, winning five of their last six outright as visitors to get them to 13-12-4 on the season.
Calgary Flames
With a pair of impressive wins this week over Winnipeg and Boston, Saturday’s a prime chance for Calgary to make a statement and start to break into the West’s playoff picture. All season the Flames have teetered around .500 and just a bit outside the playoff hunt and that makes this rivalry matchup with Edmonton all the more important.
Leading scorer Nazem Kadri is on a hot streak too. Kadri registered the overtime winner against Boston and had two goals and an assist against Winnipeg on Monday. Thursday’s goal made Kadri the second Flames skater to reach 20 goals this season as he’s now two behind Blake Coleman for the team lead.
Expect Jakob Markstrom to get the start in net Saturday.
Edmonton Oilers
Last night the Oilers elected to give backup Calvin Pickard the crease, resting Stuart Skinner for Saturday versus Calgary. The decision didn’t pay off, at least not yet, as Pickard allowed three goals on 19 shots in the 4-2 loss versus Minnesota. The Oilers outshot the Wild 43-20 but failed to score a five-on-five goal.
With an assist on a Leon Draisaitl power-play marker yesterday, Connor McDavid made it 21 straight home games with a point which ties his personal best set last year. Draisaitl was held off the scoreboard in Edmonton’s 6-5 loss Wednesday but responded yesterday with the goal and an assist on Edmonton’s other goal, which was Zach Hyman’s team-leading 35th of the season.
