Montreal Canadiens vs. Calgary Flames - 12/19/19 NHL Picks, Odds, and Prediction

Game: Montreal Canadiens vs Calgary Flames

Date: Thursday, December 19, 2019

Location: Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, AB

TV: RSNW/TSN2/RDS

Odds/Point Spread: Canadiens (+118) Flames (-130)

Total/Over-Under: 5.5

Scotiabank Saddledome is the venue where David Rittich and the Calgary Flames (18-14-4, 4th in the Pacific Division) will take on the Montreal Canadiens (16-12-6, 5th in the Atlantic Division) on Thursday. The Flames open this game at -130 while the Canadiens are coming in at +118. The O/U has been set at 5.5. The Canadiens cover 41.9% of the time, having gone 13-18 SU. The Flames cover 46.9% of the time, going 15-17 straight up.

The Montreal Canadiens head into this game holding a record of 16 wins and 12 defeats, ranking them 5th in the Atlantic Division. So far this year, they have racked up a total of 106 goals which has them sitting at 9th in the East and 15th in the NHL. Their goal differential is -1, ranking them 20th in the NHL. The Canadiens have a total of 38 points, which has them sitting at 17th in the NHL and 9th in the Eastern Conference. in respect to shots at the opposition, they have a total of 1,185 which has them sitting at 1st in the conference and 3rd in the NHL. As a unit, Montreal currently has a total of 896 hits which means they have an average of 26.4 per game. They have a total of 417 blocks for this season. In net for Montreal is Carey Price from Farmingville, New York. He is 32 years old and has totaled 1,581 minutes defending the net this year. Price is allowing 2.85 GAA which ranks him 19th in the Eastern Conference and 34th in the NHL among goalies. For the year, he has allowed 75 goals. He has a save % of .908 which ranks him 18th in the Eastern Conference.

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The Montreal Canadiens were on the right side of the scoreboard with a 3 - 1 victory against the Vancouver Canucks their last time out. The Canadiens played like an average offensive team in this win. In their game, they finished 3 out of the 30 shots they put on goal. In addition, they had 2 power play chances and were able to score 2 goals out of those chances. Montreal had a total of 8 penalty minutes in this outing. The Corsi for the Canadiens was 46 and the Corsi against was 58 meaning they had a Corsi percentage of 44.2%. Their Fenwick was 39 while the Fenwick against sat at 45, which earned them a Fenwick percentage of 46.4%. They won 21 face-off wins at even strength and were beaten on 21 of all total face-offs. Their offensive zone starts came in at 48.0% and they had a PDO of 104.0 for this game. Regarding their opponent, the Vancouver Canucks tallied a total of 39 shots. They had 4 minutes in the box and they tallied 4 power play opportunities.

The Flames are the team on the other side of the ice and for the season they sit with 18 wins and 14 defeats. In the matter of goal differential, they are sitting 11th in the conference and 24th in the NHL with -15. They have compiled a total of 93 goals for the season which has them ranked at 13th in the conference. Calgary has a team save % of .907 which has them sitting 14th in the NHL, which tells us scoring chances could present themselves. They have a team shooting percentage of 8.3% ranking them 14th in the Western Conference. In net for Calgary is David Rittich who is having an average year by allowing 2.73 goals against average and that ranks him 12th among West goaltenders and 26th in the NHL among goaltenders. In the 1,628 mins he has played, he has allowed 74 goals. He holds a save percentage of .914, which has him ranking 13th among West goaltenders and 23rd in the NHL among goaltenders.

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The Calgary Flames faced the Pittsburgh Penguins in an outing where the Flames were on the wrong end of the score by a final of 4 - 1. In their game, Calgary went home with a 56.4% Corsi rating. They got to that percentage by earning a Corsi of 62 while their opponent had a Corsi of 48. They earned a Fenwick percentage of 57.5% by notching a Fenwick of 50 and the Penguins having earned a 37 Fenwick. This Corsi percentage speaks to the kind of game that Calgary had and it could be said that this team has had better games. Their PDO was 90.0 and they had an oZS percentage of 56.7%. The Flames notched 1 goal out of the 34 shots on goal they attempted. They had 1 power play chance in this one but weren't able to notch a goal. In discussing their opponent, the Penguins had 3 power play chances but were not able to notch a goal. Calgary gave up 33 shots on goal and the Penguins had 2 penalty mins.

So what is Tonights Parlay prediction?

Parlays Pundit's Pick: Take Calgary (-130) and under the total goals

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