NHL Hockey Betting: Anaheim Ducks at Calgary Flames

The Calgary Flames return home down 0-2 to the Anaheim Ducks who are looking better than they have all season long. Considering that the Ducks finished the regular season with 109 points, 51 wins and the Western Conference title that’s a problem for the Flames. So to is the fact that Anaheim was the best road team in the NHL this season. In fact, their road record (25-12-4) was almost identical to their home record (26-12-3). Teams that can win on the road are very dangerous opponents, teams that win at the same clip on the road as they do at home are downright frightening.

Could the Ducks have been ‘playing possum’ all season long? Maybe–their statistical profile during the regular season was nothing special at all. Anaheim finished 11th in goals for, 20th in goals against, 28th on the power play and 15th on the penalty kill. That’s mediocre at best and there’s a number of non-playoff teams with much better statistical numbers. The playoffs have been a different matter. Anaheim is the #1 goals per game team, the #2 goals against and have been decent on special teams. They’re also undefeated during the postseason.

Calgary has already ‘overachieved’ this season and their fans should be very excited about the future. They’ve got a Calder Trophy candidate in Johnny Gaudreau–a dangerous offensive threat now that is only going to get better. They’ve got a franchise defenseman in Mark Giordano and a lineup of tough, hard working ‘character guys’. Jonas Hiller has had his moments this season but they could stand an upgrade in goal since neither he nor Kari Ramo have distinguished themselves as ‘the man’. But given the sad performance of the Flames in recent years this has been a remarkable season. They’ve already won a playoff series even–dispatching the dysfunctional Vancouver Canucks in six games.

We’ve been very perplexed by Anaheim all season due to their statistical profile. Now they’re winning games *and* putting up the numbers. We like what is happening in Calgary a lot but at this stage in their development this series looks like ‘men against boys’

BET ANAHEIM DUCKS -140 OVER CALGARY FLAMES