Face-off: 2200 ET, 23/04/2022
Arena: Scotiabank Saddledome
Calgary have already wrapped up the Pacific Division title but still have post-season seeding spots at stake when entertaining Vancouver.
The Canucks look increasingly doomed to come up just short in their quest for a wild card place following a couple of costly setbacks this week.
Both teams like to get on the front foot but we reckon 2.25 for a home win and over 5.5 goals is the way to go in our Calgary Flames vs Vancouver Canucks predictions.
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Calgary Flames Odds
Calgary did us a big favour when beating Dallas 4-2 at this venue on Thursday, landing a trio of bets in our match preview at 6.75, 2.5 and 4.2.
Matthew Tkachuk scored his 40th goal and 100th point of the season as the Flames finished that game strongly to make it 8-1-1 in the past 10 fixtures.
Tkachuk said: “We realise that home ice is very important and to get as many games at home.
“To get the majority of the games in a series in your own building, that’s huge for us.
“To clinch the division, that’s great, but we’re not stopping there. We have bigger goals for our team.”
Forward Mikael Backlund added: “We’re not satisfied. We want to do something really big here, we know we can do it.”
Calgary rank second in the league in terms of first-period goals with 91, compared to Vancouver being all the way down in 27th on 43.
Looking at the NHL odds for this contest, 2.15 for the hosts to win the opening period is an easy pick.
Vancouver Canucks Odds
Vancouver raised hopes of reaching the playoffs with a six-match winning run earlier this month but couldn’t quite maintain that momentum.
They were upset 4-3 at home after a shootout versus Ottawa and then went down 6-3 when visiting Minnesota.
The Canucks came from behind twice to lead 3-2 late on in the second period against the Wild, but just ran out of steam from there on.
Conor Garland, who had two assists, admitted: “It’s obviously tough. We understand what that loss means.
“Tough to be tied against probably one of the top two or three teams in the Western Conference in the third period and we just couldn’t find a way to get it done.”
Head coach Bruce Boudreau insisted: “Until it shows that we’re eliminated, I’m sure these guys are going to keep pushing right to the end.”
However, a few Vancouver players looked a bit battered and bruised towards the end of Thursday’s clash and heads could finally drop if falling behind here.
Let’s add 4.6 for a home win by exactly three goals to our Calgary Flames vs Vancouver Canucks predictions.
Additional stats
Last result:
CALGARY 4-2 Dallas
Minnesota 6-3 VANCOUVER
Season head-to-head: Vancouver 2-5 Calgary, Vancouver 7-1 Calgary, Calgary 1-0 Vancouver
