The NHL playoffs are heating up as teams battle it out for Stanley Cup supremacy. The Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers both have their sights on the trophy and are set to square off for the second game of their series on Friday night.
The Flames won the first game on Wednesday and will look to take a 2-0 lead but Edmonton will hope to even things up. Calgary is significantly favored by sportsbooks and Ontario Sports betting apps should be seeing lots of activity in the lead-up to the contest.
The total is at 6.5 following the 15-goal spectacle that took place on Wednesday. The Flames are listed at +133 on the puck line while the Oilers are at -162 to keep the game within two goals. Calgary will go into the contest as -400 favorites following their victory earlier this week.
The teams put on quite the show in a back and forth affair that ended 9-6 in favor of the home team. Matthew Tkachuk scored three for the Flames, who came back from a four-goal deficit to take the advantage in the series. It does appear that the teams were evenly matched in Game 1 but Calgary actually outshot Edmonton a whopping 48-28 and registered a 66.7 xGF percentage to the Oilers’ 33.3 percent xGF.
However, both sides had trouble with their goaltending in the series opener. Oilers goaltender Mike Smith was taken off after three goals went past him on 10 shots. Calgary’s stopper, Jacob Markstrom stayed in the crease although he allowed six goals on 28 shots.
Oilers captain Connor McDavid is a bright spot of hope for his team who may have convinced folks to take the underdog bet on Edmonton. Though the Oilers lost, he was the best player in the game, scoring one goal and assisting three more.
“We scored six goals and that should be enough to win the game,” Edmonton coach Jay Woodcroft said after the loss. “There’s a lot of things that we can do better and we will.
“I didn’t like the way we skated, we weren’t on our toes or assertive in any way to start. We missed some assignments and got pushed off a few pucks. In the end, they made us pay.
“We talked after the second that the team that got to their defense first would win. We got to 6-6, then turned over some pucks and it ended up in the back of our net.”
Calgary, though, should receive a boost through Chris Tanev’s return from injury. The 32-year-old defenseman has missed two games with an undisclosed problem but participated in Thursday’s practice. His likely return could have people considering the above thinking about it a little more than they should.
Tanev’s involvement in Calgary affairs was one of the reasons the team finished the regular season with the lowest number of goals of any Western Conference team. He played over 20 minutes of average ice time and blocked 158 shots during the regular season. His presence was sorely missed on Wednesday as the Flames conceded six goals but it wasn’t the only reason the team was so poor defensively.
As noted above, the odds heavily favor the home side in Game 2. The Flames have won six consecutive Battle of Alberta contests, which has the sportsbooks leaning towards their prospects.
The first game of the series marked the fourth time in five meetings that the over has been hit between the two teams so high-scoring fixtures are trending when it comes to the odds. The over is 14-6-1 in the last 21 games they’ve played against each other.
While the Oilers boast a formidable offense, it’s been difficult for them to beat good opponents on the road and they’re 2-7 in their last nine contests as road underdogs.
So who are we picking for this one?
Forgetting the shoddy goaltending, the Flames played as great a game as fans could have hoped for in the opener. The stats point to total domination of the Oilers in all areas, which includes limiting them to just seven serious chances.
McDavid looks a real threat for the Oilers but he will have a harder time than he did in the series against the Los Angeles Kings. That Tanev should be returning will make it even harder, plus it’s also likely that Markstrom will have a big bounce-back game.
Edmonton is offensively equipped to win one or two games in the series but those wins are unlikely to come in Calgary, with the home side 23-9 in their last 32 games as home favorites.
Bettors would do well to go with the Flames for Game 2.
