NHL Betting Free Picks: Calgary @ Colorado
Added on Mar 18, 2010 by Jack Thurman in
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Sportsbooks offering a short slate of NHL betting opportunities for Wednesday, with only three games scheduled and two of those currently off the board. Fortunately, we like a position in the Western Conference battle between the Calgary Flames and Colorado Avalanche. It doesn’t seem that long ago when these two teams were battling for supremacy in the Northwest Division with Vancouver in the rear view mirror. Now Vancouver leads the division, 3 points ahead of Colorado with the Flames well off the pace. Calgary is trying to drag themselves back into a playoff spot after their brutal slump in February, and enter this contest just 3 points out of postseason play.
Calgary Flames at Colorado Avalanche
March 17, 6:05 PM Pacific
Flames went on a goal scoring barrage in early March, scoring 14 goals in 3 games–more than they’d scored in their previous 8 contests. Since then its been business as usual with the Flames scoring four goals in 3 games, all low scoring losses that played Under the total. Calgary plays very good defense, ranking #3 in the NHL in goals allowed per game with a 2.41 average. Mikka Kiprusoff is the #3 ranked goalie in the NHL in goals against average with a 2.22 mark. So why are the Flames the only team in the NHL’s 10 best scoring defenses not currently in the playoffs? Their offense is dismal–as Frank Sinatra used to say ‘they couldn’t hit a bull in the fanny with a bag of rice’. The Flames rank #28 in scoring offense with a 2.48 goals per game average. It’s a credit to their defense that they’ve actually got a positive differential in these departments–they’re one of only three bottom 10 offense teams with a positive goals for/against per game differential and the other two (Phoenix and New Jersey) are both solid playoff teams.
Colorado has the #7 ranked scoring offense and the #9 ranked scoring defense, but one of the best predictors of NHL totals is the form of in-season head to head meetings. Simply looking at the way the previous meetings between the teams have been played will frequently provide a more valuable insight than overall recent form, YTD form, etc. This obviously is more effective in play within conferences due to the larger number of games. In this particular matchup, the Flames and Avs have been nothing if not predictable–they’ve played four times this year with the Avs winning all four games by identical 3-2 final scores. Don’t be surprised if this is the #5 ‘five’ in the season series. Avs have played Over in 6 of their L8 games, but Calgary has been effective at dictating tempo this season. Flames +100 is an interesting position, but we think the total is the stronger play.
Bet Calgary/Colorado Under 5′ +100
