The best road team in the NHL, the Calgary Flames, visits the league’s top home team, the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday night. The Flames have 17 road wins on the season and just seven regulation losses to go along with five overtime or shootout losses. The Golden Knights went into Monday’s game against Anaheim with 22 home victories and just six home losses. Let’s look at the game and NHL picks.
This war on the ice will go down Wednesday, February 21, 2018, at 10:30 p.m. ET at T-Mobile Arena.
We'll have NHL odds at BookMaker.eu available for this and every game on the NHL Wednesday schedule.
Odds Analysis
The Flames are currently just outside of a playoff spot in the Western Conference, but it sure isn’t because of their road record. Calgary’s problem has been their record at home. They were 13-14-3 at home heading into this week but 17-7-5 on the road. Tampa Bay has more road wins but they also have more road losses. The big reason Calgary is winning on the road is their defense. They have given up 95 goals in 30 games at home but just 73 goals on the road. All-Star goalie Mike Smith is 11-4-3 on the road with a 1.97 goals-against average and a .944 save percentage, but at home he is 12-12-3 while allowing 2.89 goals per game. Smith probably won’t be available for this game, as he is recovering from a groin injury.
The Flames have gone over 13 times on the road and gone under 16 times. They are scoring 2.8 goals per game and giving up 2.8 per contest.
The Golden Knights are shocking not only the NHL world, but the entire sporting world. They are an expansion team that has the best record in the NHL. They could actually win the Presidents Trophy which is simply beyond comprehension. They are the first expansion team to ever hold the outright lead in the standings this late in the season. “Right now, we’re in good shape,” goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury said. “We are aware where we are, but we can’t just sit back. We have to keep chasing those points night after night.”
Vegas is scoring 3.4 goals per game and giving up 2.7 per contest. They have gone over 14 times at home, gone under 13 times, with one push.
Special Teams
Calgary is just 23rd on the power play and just 19th in penalty killing but those numbers have been better on the road than at home. The Golden Knights are 9th on the power play and they are 15th in penalty killing.
Key Stat
These teams played last month and it was Vegas coming away with a 4-2 road win in Calgary in a game that just went over the total of 5.5.
Free NHL Picks
Both teams played on Monday, but the edge in travel is with Vegas, as they played at home against Anaheim, while Calgary was home against Boston. It is very difficult to go against Vegas at home as they have just been excellent all season. The Flames have been a good road team but the key factor for me in this one is the status of Calgary goaltender Mike Smith. He didn’t play on Monday, as he recovers from a groin injury and I can’t see him going in this game on Wednesday. The backup for Calgary is David Rittich and he has been average with a goals against of 2.76, but it is hard to see him winning this game on the road against Vegas. I will lay the price and take the Golden Knights on Wednesday night. I also think there is some value in taking the game over the total, as both of these teams have been going over the total of late.
NHL Odds: Golden Knights 5, Flames 2
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