This Week in Canada NHL for March 28
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Last week was a wild week for the Canadian NHL teams and NHL betting.
The game that generated most of the gambling and hockey buzz had to be the Calgary Flames versus the Edmonton Oilers. Saturday night’s “Battle Of Alberta” was poised to be a fierce rivalry game.
A Look Back At Last Week With The Canadian Teams
The Calgary Flames (1.65) was the apparent home favourite and the over of 6 ½ was expected to be vulnerable late. Perhaps, Calgary would wind up with an empty-net tally. However, what transpired was wild, almost from the opening puck drop.
When Derick Brassard scored 32 seconds into the game, all bets were off. This latest “Battle” was off and running. Calgary answered with three goals in a row as the first period Over easily connected. Leon Draisaitl ended the period with his 45th of the season to make the after 20 a 3-2 game.
Then, the second period got even crazier. Six goals from the two teams combined as Draisaitl tallied twice more to complete his hat trick. For perspective, it was 6-5 Calgary not even midway into the game. Mikko Koskinen faced 12 shots and stopped just seven. He lasted a mere 25:06, then Mike Smith took over and promptly allowed Matthew Tkachuk’s second goal of the night.
What made this game stand out from the rest was that Edmonton dominated the portion of the game while Koskinen was in the net from a shots standpoint. After Smith came in, Calgary outshot Edmonton the rest of the way. The last half of the second period was notable only because no more pucks crossed the goal line.
That would not be the case in the third period. Calgary dominated Edmonton thoroughly as Edmonton seemed to run out of gas. The Flames would score three more times en route to the 9-5 final score. Calgary outshot Edmonton 16-4, including 15-4 scoring chances (8-2 from a high-danger standpoint).
Jacob Markstrom survived for the win, stopping 26 of 31 shots for Calgary. Mike Smith turned aside 22 of 26 shots and took the loss in relief of Koskinen. Johnny Gaudreau dished out five helpers while Matthew Tkachuk had two goals and two assists. Elias Lindholm and Mikael Backlund each had two goals for the Flames. Backlund had a season-high eight shots.
As for Edmonton, Draisaitl had four points and so did Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (goal, three helpers). Connor McDavid chipped in with two assists in what was the game of the week.
If these two play each other in the playoffs, this will be Canada’s version of the “Battle Of Pennsylvania” from 2012 between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.
Anyway, let’s look ahead to what is next for Canada’s NHL teams this week and give you an idea of where you might want to look for some futures betting.
A Look Ahead for Canada’s NHL Teams
This week does not include any rivalry games, but Tuesday does have a meeting between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins.
The one team Toronto probably does not want to see in the playoffs other than maybe the Tampa Bay Lightning is Boston. Auston Matthews comes in with the possibility of scoring his 50th goal of the season. Through 60 games, Matthews has 48 goals and is the favourite for the Rocket Richard Award (best goal scorer).
Boston is one of the hottest teams in the league right now as both teams try to chase down the Florida Panthers for the division and Eastern Conference lead. Toronto won the last meeting in November by a score of 5-2.
Also, on Tuesday night, the Calgary Flames and Colorado Avalanche clash as the two best teams in the West battle for supremacy.
If Calgary wants to win the West, that is a must-win game. While Colorado is battling the injury bug a bit, the Flames are fully healthy and have the offense to rival the Avalanche. It’s another game where goals can be plentiful for bettors unless the goaltending steals the show.
One final matchup on intrigue focuses on Saturday night’s game between the Montreal Canadiens and Tampa Bay Lightning. These were the two finalists from last year’s Stanley Cup.
Granted, Montreal’s season has gone south, but under Martin St. Louis, Montreal is generating buzz again. If this game is anything like the last meeting (5-4 Tampa Bay), there could be quite a few goals scored.
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