Edmonton Oilers vs. Calgary Flames: NHL Odds, Prediction
It’s likely too little, too late, but the Edmonton Oilers are starting to play better hockey as they head out on a one-game trip to Calgary on Tuesday night. The playoff-hopeful Flames need every point they can get.
Oilers vs. Flames Betting Analysis
It’s the fourth of five meetings between the rivals, with Edmonton returning to Calgary on March 31. The Oilers lead the season series 3-0 and won their lone visit to the Saddledome on Dec. 2, 7-5. Edmonton nearly blew a 6-1 early third-period lead, though. The Oilers have outscored the Flames 31-16 during a six-game winning streak in the series.
To no surprise, Connor McDavid leads the Oilers with five points (3G, 2A) vs. the Flames in 2017-18. Milan Lucic (1G, 3A) has four points. Cam Talbot is 2-0 with a 1.44 goals against average and .953 save percentage. Laurent Brossoit started the other game.
Mikael Backlund (3A), Dougie Hamilton (3A) and Johnny Gaudreau (1G, 2A) lead Calgary with three points vs. Edmonton. Sean Monahan doesn’t have a point. David Rittich is 0-1-1 with a 3.53 GAA and .884 SV, and Mike Smith is 0-1-1 with a 4.24 GAA and .901 SV. The Oilers are 4-1 in their past five in Calgary. The total has gone over in five of the previous seven meetings overall.
Edmonton Oilers
Edmonton (30-34-4) could win out and still would likely miss the playoffs, but it’s never a bad thing to finish a season with some momentum heading into the summer. The Oilers enter on a three-game winning streak, just their fourth run of at least that long in 2017-18. They soundly beat a good Minnesota team on Saturday, 4-1. McDavid had two goals and an assist as he makes a push to repeat as the NHL scoring champion. The captain has six goals and seven assists in his last seven games and is up to 84 points – as of Monday, Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov still leads the league with 88. Talbot stopped 32 of 33 shots vs. Minnesota to improve to 25-26-2 with a 3.03 GAA and a .906 SV. Defenceman Oscar Klefblom is out following a procedure on his shoulder.
Calgary Flames
The Flames (34-26-10) would miss the playoffs as things stand. They opened a three-game homestand with a 5-2 loss to the Islanders on Sunday to snap a two-game winning streak. Smith started his first game since Feb. 11 due to injury and wasn’t sharp in allowing four goals on the first 12 shots he saw – but did at least stop the final 14. In addition, winger Matthew Tkachuk was injured in the third period and did not return. If he’s to miss any time, that would be a blow as Tkachuk has 24 goals and 25 assists. Gaudreau had a goal and assist vs. the Islanders and is on a four-game points streak. His 79 points are a career high.
