Face-off: 2100 ET, 03/03/2022
Arena: Scotiabank Saddledome
Calgary have been unstoppable on home ice of late and will be chasing a 12th straight win at Scotiabank Saddledome when entertaining Montreal.
The Canadiens saw their resurgence halted at Winnipeg on Tuesday and are again expected to find their hosts just too powerful here.
We’re snapping up 2.0 for a home win in regular time and over 5.5 total goals in our Calgary Flames vs Montreal Canadiens predictions.
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Calgary Flames Odds
Calgary made it 12 wins out of 13 at any venue with an emphatic 5-1 victory at Minnesota earlier this week.
Five separate players had a goal and an assist for the Flames, who have pulled clear at the top of the Pacific Division table.
“A good competitive game there,” said forward Andrew Mangiapane. “A good, solid effort by our whole team.”
Elias Lindholm added: “We were ready and we were hungry to get a win. We were prepared, had a good morning skate. Had some momentum goals there. Overall, a solid game.”
It is encouraging to see that Calgary are not getting carried away with their current success.
Simply expressing a calm but confident self-belief suggests they can stay focused on racking up the points.
Looking at the NHL odds for this match, 3.9 for the Flames to win by exactly three goals catches the eye.
Montreal Canadiens Odds
New Montreal coach Martin St Louis saw a honeymoon period of five straight wins cut short by an 8-4 loss to the Jets.
Josh Anderson scored his first NHL hat trick for the Canadiens, but Sam Montembeault conceded seven goals from 23 shots before being replaced by Andrew Hammond.
“I think we self-inflicted a lot,” said St Louis. “I think we took four or five defensive-zone penalties and there was not a lot of flow for a lot of the game.”
Forward Brendan Gallagher added: “The good was good, but too many penalties. Their power play is too good to give them that many opportunities.”
Montreal are 31st in the league when it comes to their penalty kill percentage, so any ill-discipline is likely to be punished again here.
The Canadiens may be competitive for a while, but we’re expecting Calgary to pull away once getting on top.
Let’s add 2.3 for the most goals to come in the third period to our Flames vs Canadiens predictions.
Additional stats
Last result:
Minnesota 1-5 CALGARY
Winnipeg 8-4 MONTREAL
Season head-to-head: Montreal 4-2 Calgary
