Canucks Look to Stay Hot at Home Vs Skidding Flames

The Calgary Flames are quickly slipping out of the Western Conference playoff picture – and being without their top defenseman indefinitely won't help matters as they bring a three-game losing skid into Saturday's date with host Vancouver. The Flames enter the weekend two points back of rival Edmonton for the second conference wild-card spot.

Sportsbook Odds Analysis

Vancouver came in as a -130 favorite, the first time in five meetings that Calgary has been the underdog. The Sportsbook total of 5.5 breaks a streak of six straight encounters with the O/U at 6 or higher.

Calgary News & Notes

The Flames are bucking a league-wide trend when it comes to scoring first – and not in a good way. Calgary has dropped back-to-back games when hitting the scoresheet first, dropping to 15-5-3 in that scenario (17th-best in the NHL). Vancouver, on the other hand, is one of only eight teams in the league with 10 or more victories in games in which they allow the first goal.

And blowing early leads might be a secondary problem for the Flames, who have given up 14 goals over their past three games and are without No. 1 blue-liner Mark Giordano, who is recovering from a hamstring injury. It's his first time out of the lineup in four years – and his absence was immediately felt, with Calgary's new first D pairing on for all three Nashville goals last time out.

Vancouver News & Notes

Two years ago, the Canucks won just 16 home games all season and were routinely booed off the ice at Rogers Arena. Fast forward to 2020, and Vancouver can't wait to get back on friendly ice; not only did the Canucks lose the final three games of their second five-game road trip in the past month, but they've also won nine straight at home and are 17-5-3 for the season.

While the Canucks will undoubtedly be buoyed by performing in front of the hometown fans again, they could be without their top scorer for a second consecutive game. Elias Pettersson missed Thursday's loss in Minnesota with a lower-body injury and is considered day-to-day; Petterson leads the team with 55 points, one more than linemate J.T. Miller.

Betting Pick: Vancouver

A team this hot on home ice facing a team on a three-game skid should be a bigger Vegas favorite – but we'll happily take the current home-team odds and proverbially run with them.