The Calgary Flames head to St. Paul to face off against the Minnesota Wild with playoffs near.
Only two games left in the year, both the Flames and Wild have clinched their spots for the playoffs and now play seeding to determine their first round matchups. Both are dangerous teams who now look to build momentum with the regular season coming to an end.
The Flames are first in the Pacific Division with 110 points and clinched the division title. The Wild are second in the Central Division with 109 points and look to clinch home advantage for playoffs.
NHL betting odds have the Flames and Wild evenly favored in this lopsided matchup at -110. The Flames are 2-0 against the Wild this year with 7-3 and 5-1 wins back in February and March.
Flames at Wild Stats
Flames Stats
The Flames are the Pacific Division champs and look to keep their winning streak alive as they await their first round matchup.
Calgary has been a scoring machine with 22 goals in the last five games for an average of 4.40 goals scored a game.
Star player Johnny Gaudreau has been getting in on those goals with 8 points in the last five games and is currently third in league points with 113.
Dillon Dube has also been adding to the goal scoring with five goals in the last five games while leading goal scorer Matthew Tkachuk has two goals and four assists in the last five games.
In the last ten games, the netminding has been split between Jacob Markstrom and Dan Vladar as both have started five games each as they give Markstrom some rest before playoffs. With a tough test tonight, expect Markstrom in net. The two have allowed a combined 14 goals in the last five games.
Markstrom is currently top five in all major goalie stat categories including first in shutouts (9) and third in GAA (2.21). He will likely be a candidate for the Vezina this year.
As a team, the Flames are fifth in goals for with 3.60 and third in goals against with 2.50.
Wild Stats
The Wild suffered a brutal 5-3 loss to the Arizona Coyotes last game that ended their five game winning streak. They now have a tough two final matchups in the Flames and Avalanche.
In the last five games, the Wild offense has been on fire with 22 goals for an average of 4.40 while they’ve struggled slightly in net with a 3.00 GAA.
Kirill Kaprizov is the team’s leader in goals (45), assists (60), and points (105) which are all the most in the franchise’s history. Kaprizov has twelve points in the last five games and is on a five game point streak.
Joel Eriksson Ek is also getting things going with eight points in the last five games including five games. This came after going nine games without a goal and seven games without a point.
Goalies Marc-Andre Fleury and Cam Talbot have been mostly splitting time since Fleury joined the team. In the last ten games, Fleury has started six times including the last three games. He has allowed 18 goals in his last five games for a GAA of 3.6 but has only lost one of those games.
Cam Talbot is likely getting the start tonight following Fleury’s three straight. In his last five starts he has allowed 14 goals for a GAA of 2.80 which is right around his season GAA of 2.78. He has started once against the Flames this year and allowed four goals on 26 shots.
On the year, the Wild are fifth in the league in goals for with 3.73 and eighteenth in goals against with 3.08.
Flames at Wild Betting Trends
- The Flames are 8-1-1 in their last ten games and 4-0-1 in their last five games.
- Calgary holds the series lead 2-0 and are 7-3 in the last ten meetings.
- The Wild are 8-1-1 in their last ten games and 4-1 in their last five games.
- The Wild are the second best team against the over with 60% of games going over.
- The over has hit in both meetings between the Flames and Wild.
Flames at Wild Betting Prediction
Betting guides currently have the Flames and Wild are both -110 on the moneyline but could fluctuate depending on Wild injuries. The over/under for this game is currently set at 6. With those day-to-day players in question, moneyline might be something to avoid but the over/under is what your sights should be set on. With both offenses hot and goaltending for both slightly slumping, the Over 6 (-110) is the play.
This matchup should stay consistent with the previous two as they went over and pushed 6 goals in those games with 7-3 and 5-1 scores.
Conclusion
The Flames and Wild are two of the best scoring teams in the league this year as both are scoring 3.60 or more goals per game this season. The Wild are fifth in goals for and eighteenth in goals against while the Flames are sixth in goals and third in goals against.
In the last five games both teams have scored 22 goals each while the Wild have allowed 15 goals compared to the Flames 15. With the Wild injuries still in question, it might be tough for them to get a bounce back win following a tough loss as they also hope to avoid the season sweep against the Flames who look for their fourth straight win.
A high-scoring game could be expected with 7-3 and 5-1 games in the previous two matchups.
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