Calgary Flames vs. New York Rangers Prediction, NHL Odds
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Edgar Chaput
Neither club has stepped on the ice for a competitive match since Friday, Jan. 27. The 10-day layoff was an opportunity to assess their seasons and allow wounds to nurse themselves.
New York is a -1.5 favourite as per the NHL odds, whereas the over-under is 5.5 goals, so expect a lower-scoring game than usual.
Flames vs. Rangers NHL Betting Odds
In a scheduling quirk, because tonight is the first of two matchups between these intra-conference rivals this season, and because their 2021-2022 meetings both happened early, the 2022 calendar year came and went without them ever glancing at one another. Furthermore, Calgary has New York’s number, earning full spoils five consecutive times in games that go back even before the pandemic pause.
Calgary sits in ninth place in the West, tied on points with the Colorado Avalanche and one point behind the seventh-ranked Minnesota Wild. Their cushion above the Predators isn’t especially comfortable either at only three points. It must be said however that the Flames aren’t afraid of playing on the road given their respectable 10-8-7 away record. Betters have been left in the dust a lot lately, with Calgary only covering two of its past six spreads, to say nothing of their 19-31 tally ATS for the year.
Gerard Gallant’s Manhattan unit is experiencing a more promising campaign than its opponents. New York finds itself in a dogfight for home-ice advantage in at least the first round of the playoffs, tussling with the Lightning and Devils in the standings. Fair warning to betters: just as Calgary plays with relative comfort away from the Saddledome, so too do the Rangers underperform at the Garden. 13-9-4 at home is fine, but they aren’t a particularly threatening host.
Calgary Flames
Given the circumstances of the NHL scheduling, it’s tricky to speak of momentum at times like this. Not only is the league leaving its All-Star break weekend, but Darryl Sutter’s ensemble hasn’t stepped onto the ice for a game since Friday before last when they burned the Kraken in Seattle by the score of 5-2.
They possess most of the manpower their roster says they have. Calgary is a healthy team, with only defenceman Oliver Kylington on injured reserve. The back end of the regular season is where great stories can be told, and poor stories can be rewritten. One that comes to mind is Jonathan Huberdeau, who hasn’t put up nearly the numbers he did last year in Miami, which was the very reason the club traded for him. With the trade deadline looming, one wonders if Sutter is in the market for someone who can put pucks in the net. Through 50 games, no one has netted at least 20 times (Nazem Kadri comes close at 19). No one has more points than games played either.
New York Rangers
Speaking of healthy teams, the Rangers are feeling pretty good right now as well, not to mention playing better than Monday’s visitors. Their last test also came on Jan. 27 when the Las Vegas Golden Knights put up as good a fight as they could have, but backup netminder Jaroslav Halak made one acrobatic and sprawling save after another. Pucks bounced in New York’s favour, with some funny goals paving the way to a 4-1 win.
While the club is middle-of-the-pack with respect to offence, defensively the Rangers are stellar. They sit third league-wide in goals against per game (2.59) and 6th in shots allowed in total (to be fair, the Flames are third). Igor Shesterkin is up to his usual tricks, posting a 21-8-7 record along with a 2.46 goals-against average.
