NHL Hockey Betting: Chicago Blackhawks at Calgary Flames

The Calgary Flames were hoping for a reversal of fortune after nothing went right for them in the 2015-2016 season. Well, nothing went right except the emergence of Johnny Gaudreau as one of the most lethal scorers in the league. Unfortunately, not only has nothing improved for Calgary things appear to have gotten worse. Last year they were a team that could score goals but not prevent them. This year they’re struggling on both ends of the ice. They’re got the the #26 goals per game average in the league (2.28) and the #26 goals against average (3.28). When you score one goal per game fewer than you give up things aren’t going to work out particularly well for your team. On top of everything, they’re going to be without the aforementioned ‘Johnny Hockey’ for at least six weeks.

To their credit the Flames have continued to scrap and have won two straight over Minnesota and Arizona, both solid defensive efforts including an actual shutout (a rarity for Flames’ goalies). They’re stepping up in class here, however, as they welcome the Chicago Blackhawks to town. Chicago has lost two of three and is coming off a 4-0 loss at Winnipeg. That was three days ago meaning they’ll be in a foul mood *and* rested. The Hawks are 8-1-1 in their last 10 and 11-4-2 on the year. The Flames have done a decent job against the Blackhawks in recent years. Chicago has a 5-3 lead in the series overall and a 2-1 edge at the Saddledome. They’ve split two games this year and Chicago won 2 of 3 last year. Not the level of domination you’d expect from Chicago in this series.

In this situation, however, hard to make a case for Calgary. This would have been a decent spot for the battered Flames to ‘sneak up’ on Chicago but not after the Hawks were on the wrong end of a shutout last time out. Chicago has six games left on this tough road trip with stops remaining in Vancouver, Edmonton, San Jose, Anaheim and Los Angeles. Even with a lot of work still to do hard to see them not bringing their ‘A Game’ here.

BET CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS -155 OVER CALGARY FLAMES