NHL Betting Free Picks: New Jersey @ Calgary
Added on Mar 05, 2010 by Jack Thurman in
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Sportsbooks are offering a short slate of NHL betting opportunities for Friday night but we’ll take a look at an interconference game between the New Jersey Devils and Calgary Flames. Devils have slipped somewhat from earlier in the season, losing 3 of their L5 games. That’s nothing compared to the mess that Calgary is in–it wasn’t long ago they were leading their division and they’ve since slipped out of the playoffs into a 10th place tie with St. Louis.
New Jersey Devils at Calgary Flames
March 5, 6:05 PM Pacific
Nothing fancy here–the Flames are in freefall and we’re going to play against them until they give us a reason to do otherwise. Calgary has lost 16 of their last 21 games for a simple reason–they can’t put the puck in the net. The Flames have scored more than 3 goals in a game only three times during that slide and they were shut out in their first game back since the Olympic break. The defense is still solid, though Mikka Kiprusoff was showing signs of fatigue before the Olympic games (he was on Finland’s Olympic team). Flames are tied with Edmonton for the 29th spot in goals scored per game and are 27th in shots on goal per game. The only reason that they’re not in worse shape than they are is that they’ve got the #4 scoring defense in the NHL and are 6th in fewest opponent shots allowed per game.
The only problem is that New Jersey is marginally better both offensively and defensively. The Devils aren’t an offensive machine either, ranking 20th in goals scored per game but get many more scoring opportunities than Calgary ranking #16 in shots on goal per contest. New Jersey is currently the #1 ranked scoring defense in the NHL and is #2 in shots on goal against per game. It’s a bad matchup for a Flames team that’s already struggling to put the puck on net, let alone score goals. Calgary is only 15-15-3 on their home ice at the Pengrowth Saddledome while New Jersey is a solid 18-12-2 on the road. Perhaps the most compelling stat is Calgary’s horrible 13-18 mark against teams with winning records, including a current run of 8 losses and 9 games against teams above .500. New Jersey, meanwhile, has dominated weaker opposition this year with a 21-8 mark against teams with losing records. At a ‘pick’em’ price we’ll go with the road team offering much more upside than the struggling hosts.
Bet New Jersey -110 over Calgary
