Free NHL Hockey Prediction: Panthers vs Flames NHL Odds
Looking for Florida Panthers vs. Calgary Flames free hockey plays & NHL Odds? NHL betting sees the Panthers taking on the Flames on Tuesday January 17th at Scotiabank Sattledome in Calgary, AB. Cappers Picks provides complimentary expert handicapping picks on all NHL Hockey matchups all season long so stay tuned for more FREE daily NHL hockey predictions.
(20-17-8) Florida Panthers vs. Calgary Flames (23-20-3)
Date: Tuesday January 17th
Time: 6:00 PM
Venue: Scotiabank Sattledome in Calgary, AB
NHL Hockey Moneyline Odds: Flames -135
NHL Hockey Puck Line Odds:
NHL Betting Total: 5
Live NHL Odds
Updated Sportsbook Bonuses For TodayClick here to view… NHL ATS Stats & Expert NHL Betting Insight!
The Florida Panthers and the Calgary Flames have both has similar storylines this year, seeing the release of each of their former coaches from a season ago.
Bob Hartley was relieved of his duties behind the Calgary bench in the summer, and Gerard Gallant was let go from Florida in a somewhat surprising move part way through this season.
Calgary got off to a terrible start, feeling the impact of having Johnny Gaudreau out of the lineup due to injury for an extended period of time certainly contributed.
Florida was above .500 at the time Gallant was released, the man who led the team to a playoff berth a season ago. Gallant should have no trouble finding another job when he is ready.
Florida Panthers
The Panthers have climbed their way back into wildcard contention, currently tied with both Toronto and Ottawa at 48 points in the Atlantic Division.
Florida is 5-3-2 in their past 10 games and seem to be adjusting to life under new bench boss, Tom Rowe.
Despite the improved record of late, the Panthers still sit just 26th overall in goals per game this season, at a mark of 2.3 per game.
[dfads params=’groups=234&limit=1&return_javascript=1′]
The club is still missing young scoring forward, Jonathan Huberdeau, who has yet to appear in a game this season.
Forward, Vincent Trocheck, leads the Cats with 14 goals and 29 points in 45 games played this year.
The Cinderella story from the beginning of the season, Jonathan Marchessault, has cooled off significantly but still owns 13 goals and 27 points, which sits him in second in team scoring.
The strength of the Panthers’ is on the defensive side of the puck, following the age-old theory of building a team from the net out.
Roberto Luongo is the solid veteran presence between the pipes, owning a .922 SV% and 2.40 GAA on the season.
The defense in front of Lou features one of the top young rear-guards in the league in Aaron Ekblad.
Ekblad has had a tough year in the plus-minus department, as evidenced by his -16 rating, but has a ton of skill to turn his season around at the midway point.
Calgary Flames
The infusion of Gaudreau back into the lineup, along with the improved play on the backend, namely from Dougie Hamilton, has really helped turned the Flames’ season around.
In his 19 games since returning, Johnny Hockey has tallied 17 points and the Flames as a whole have gone 11-8.
Also of note is that the return of Gaudreau has allowed new head coach, Glen Gulutzen, to form the “3M” line of Mikael Backlund, Matthew Tkachuk and Michael Frolik.
The trio has performed admirably since being formed, and provided the needed secondary punch behind Gaudreau and Monahan on the first line.
Backlund now actually leads Calgary in points, with 29 in his 46 games played. Following closely is Gaudreau and his 28, though he has registered the total in 10 fewer games.
As mentioned, Dougie Hamilton has really improved his play since being paired with Mark Giordano and leads the Flames’ defense in points with 27.
[dfads params=’groups=260&limit=1&return_javascript=1′]
Playing alongside the solid veteran captain, Hamilton has the ability to be the offensive player of the pairing and have a safeguard in Giordano to support him.
Brian Elliott was signed to be the #1 goalie in CowTown, but his struggles forced the coaching staff to play the hotter hand, and veteran back-up, Chad Johnson, has been a revelation.
Johnson’s .924 SV% and 2.25 GAA vastly outperform Elliott’s .893 and 2.85, respectively, and is another key reason to the Flames’ turnaround.
NHL Betting Trends:
- The Panthers rank 26th in goals per game at 2.3
- Florida has the 4th ranked penalty kill at 85.3% efficiency
- Florida is 9-8-5 on the road this year
- Neither team has a player who sits amongst the top-50 in points.
- Calgary has a minus-6 goal differential on the season
- Calgary is 12-11-0 on home ice this year
Free Florida Panthers vs. Calgary Flames NHL Hockey Prediction:
These two teams have improved their play of late, but each still ranks in the bottom third of the NHL in goals. In Calgary’s past 14 games, a total of six or more goals was only reached on three occasions.
Florida has only scored an average of 2.27 goals per game on the road this season, and make the long trek to Alberta to face the Flames.
4* Free NHL Betting Pick: Under 5.5
Considering how much better Johnson has performed than Elliott, and the steady play of the veteran Luongo, I like the under.
NHL Free Score Prediction: Florida 2 – Calgary 3
If you’re looking for more NHL picks like this Florida Panthers vs. Calgary Flames matchup we’ll be providing 4* free NHL predictions on the blog during the entire 2017 NHL season, and check out our Experts for guaranteed premium & free NHL Hockey picks!
CappersPicks.com has Stanley Cup odds up on a ton of futures, and you will also find NHL lines up for early games as well.
[dfads params=’groups=218&limit=1&return_javascript=1′]
