The Vancouver Canucks are looking to return to the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday night after an extremely disappointing 1-0 defeat. In a game where none of the Canucks’ 43 shots could beat Netminder Alex Nedeljkovic, the team missed out on two points that they desperately needed to collect.
Saturday night, Vancouver will play the Calgary Flames in another all-Canadian battle between the two divisional enemies, where both points are even more important than the last contest.
After their loss to Detroit, the Canucks sit with a record of 30-25-7, good enough for a fifth-place finish in the Pacific Division. With exactly 20 games in the regular season, the Canucks are five points from third in the division, and remain three points behind second place wild card in the conference.
Their opponents on Saturday, on the other hand, enjoy a super regular season as one of the best NHL teams. Calgary finished first in the Pacific Division with a record of 37-16-8, and are the second overall seed in the Western Conference.
Despite 6-2-2 in their last ten outings, the Flames come from a disappointing 1-0 (OT) home defeat against the lower Buffalo Sabers after a calamitous foul by ex-Canuck Jacob Markström.
Calgary is led by veteran head coach Darryl Sutter and offers talents including Johnny Gaudreau, Matthew Tkachuk, and Elias Lindholm.
The Flames are one of the better statistical teams in the entire NHL, a common character of Sutter-led teams. They sit sixth in the league and have goals scored per game with 3.41, and have the second-best defensive record with just 2.41 goals per night. Special teams also rank well for the Alberta team, as their power play is in 11th place, and the penalty kill is the fourth-most efficient.
This will be the third matchup between these teams this year, with the two teams separating previous players.
With Calgary on the back foot, reserve goalkeeper Daniel Vladar expects to get the corner in the net, while Vancouver is likely to return to Thatcher Demko between the pipes.
The odds for Saturday’s game between Vancouver and Calgary are driven by WynnBET Sportsbook, FanSided’s official betting partner.
Betting Chance
Moneyline:
Canucks +120
Flamen -140
Zil Total:
Over 5.5 goals at -105
Below 5.5 targets at -115
Puckline:
Canucks +1.5 at -215
Flames -1.5 at +175
Predict
The Canucks desperately need to change for their unexpected loss the other night against the Red Wings. The quickest way to do this is to win a tough match against one of the better teams in the league. Calgary will come out with revenge after a bad loss last night against Buffalo, as well as the 7-1 whooping they did last time against the Canucks, probably still in their heads.
Nevertheless, the flames are on the second half of a back-to-back that involves traveling to a street game, and are bound to play too much. Calgary is relatively comfortable up in the Pacific, and knows that Colorado catching up is almost impossible at this point.
From Vancouver playing desperately, at home, and being the more rested team, expect them to have the slight advantage in this.
It should be an exciting nail-biter going down the wire, but the Canucks should come out with a massive two points.
Choose: Canucks Moneyline +120
What are your thoughts on this future game between the Canucks and Flames? Which bet will you place on the matchup? Let us know your feelings below in the comments section!
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