Calgary Flames vs Florida Panthers Predictions, NHL Expert Picks 3/1/2020

Game: Calgary Flames vs Florida Panthers

Date: Sunday, March 1, 2020

Location: BB&T Center in Sunrise, FL

TV: RSNW/FSFL

Odds/Point Spread: Flames (-102) Panthers (-108)

Total/Over-Under: 6

David Rittich and the Calgary Flames (33-25-7, 4th in the Pacific Division) go to BB&T Center on Sunday where they'll meet the Florida Panthers (33-25-6, 4th in the Atlantic Division). The moneyline on this contest has the Flames priced at -102 and the Panthers are at -108. The O/U opens at 6. The Flames are covering 45.8% of the time, having gone 27-32 SU. The Panthers are covering 49.2% of the time, going 30-31 straight up.

The Calgary Flames head into this game holding a record of 33 victories and 25 defeats, putting them at 4th in the Pacific Division. During the year thus far, they have converted a total of 189 goals which has them sitting at 10th in the West and 20th in the league. Their goal differential is -12, putting them at 24th in the league. The Flames have a total of 73 pts, which has them sitting at 17th in the league and 7th in the West. When it comes to shots toward the net, they have a total of 2,070 which has them sitting at 5th in the West and 11th in the league. As a group, Calgary has compiled a total of 1,121 hits which means they are averaging 17.2 per game. They have a total of 728 blocks for the year. The goaltender for Calgary is David Rittich from Jihlava, Czechoslovakia. He is 27 years old and has played a total of 2,676 mins protecting the goal this season. Rittich is giving up an average of 2.92 goals against average which has him placed 19th among Western Conference goalies and 39th in the NHL among goalies. During this year, he's surrendered 130 goals. He has a save % of .908 which has him placed 20th among Western Conference goalies.

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The Calgary Flames will look to clean up some issues after taking a 4 - 3 loss to the Nashville Predators in their previous game. The Flames had a middle of the road offensive outing in the loss. In this matchup, they scored on 3 out of the 39 shots they looked to score on. Moreover, they had 0 power play attempts but didn't get a goal. Calgary ended up with 6 penalty minutes in this game. The Corsi for the Flames sat at 61 and the Corsi against was 62 which gave them a Corsi percentage of 49.6%. Their Fenwick sat at 51 and the Fenwick against at even strength sat at 52, meaning they had a rate of 49.5%. They took 22 face-off wins and were beaten on 22 tries to control the puck. The offensive zone starts for them were rated at 56.5% and they had a PDO at even strength of 96.3 for this one. Concerning opponent stats, the Nashville Predators earned 38 shots. They ended the game with 2 minutes in the box and they earned a total of 2 power play attempts.

The Panthers will be the team across the ice and for the year they have 33 victories and 25 defeats. Regarding goal differential, they sit 10th in the conference and 16th in the league with +4. They have earned a total of 219 goals for the season which has them at 3rd in the conference. Florida has a save % as a team of .897 which currently has them ranked 28th in the league, which tells us scoring chances could be plentiful if they are aggressive. They are shooting 10.5% which puts them at 5th in the conference. In goal for Florida is Sergei Bobrovsky who is having a tough season by giving up 3.26 GAA and that has him 30th in the Eastern Conference and 60th among goaltenders in the NHL. In the 2,741 mins he has played, he's allowed 149 goals. His save percentage is .899, which ranks him 27th in the Eastern Conference and 55th among goaltenders in the NHL.

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The Florida Panthers opposed the Toronto Maple Leafs in an outing where the Panthers ended up losing by a final of 5 - 3. In this outing, Florida wound up with a 52.5% Corsi rating. That percentage was had by earning a Corsi of 52 while their opponent had a Corsi of 47. Their Fenwick percentage was 50.7% by earning a Fenwick of 36 and the Maple Leafs having earned a 35 Fenwick at even strength. These Corsi stats speak to the kind of game that Florida played and we'd say they played an average game. Their PDO at even strength was 90.7 and their percentage of oZS was 43.8%. The Panthers converted 3 goals of the 27 shots on goal they tried. They had 1 power play opportunity in this one but didn't put one in the back of the net. In discussing their opponent, the Maple Leafs had 1 power play chance but weren't able to put the puck in the net. Florida gave up 29 shots on goal and the Maple Leafs had 7 penalty minutes.

Who will win tonight's hockey game against the spread?

Josh's Pick: Take Calgary (-102)

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