Welcome back to the return of NHL Predictions. Each day, Last Word on Hockey takes a look at the games that are happening and gives our predictions for each one, breaking down head-to-head matchups and other factors that may play in. Today we’re looking at the Winnipeg Jets vs Calgary Flames. Be sure to check out more NHL predictions every day there’s hockey this season.
NHL Predictions
Winnipeg Jets (7-0-0) vs Calgary Flames (5-1-1)
Time: 7 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT)
Two Canadian teams with different objections coming into the season. However, after 7 games, both the Flames and Jets sit atop their respective divisions. Let’s dive into both these teams, and what to expect heading into their first head-to-head matchup of the season.
2023-24 season series: Calgary won (2-1).
Winnipeg Hoping to Stay Undefeated
The only undefeated team in the NHL at this point in the season. Everything seems to be working well for the Jets. The Jets are getting offensive contributions from their top players. Mark Scheifele leads the team in points, followed by Nikolaj Ehlers and Kyle Connor. They’ve also seen a good start from newly resigned youngster, Cole Perfetti. Vezina Trophy winner Connor Hellebuyck has been solid in goal to start the season. With the skill upfront and one of the best goaltenders in the NHL, Winnipeg is tough to beat. The biggest question mark for Winnipeg is their defence. Josh Morrissey has proven he is a top defenceman in this league, but there are question marks about the rest of the team.
The start of the season has been so good that people are already looking ahead to the playoffs to poke holes in this team. Only time will tell if this team is a true Cup contender. For right now, however, there doesn’t appear to be anything that can slow this group down.
Flames Looking to Bounce Back
The Flames are coming off their worst loss of the season. Sure, it’s only their second loss, but they were severely outplayed by the Carolina Hurricanes. They were outshot 43-32 and fell down 3-0 early in the second, a hole they couldn’t dig out of. Overall the Flames have impressed this season and almost everything has gone well. They’ve received solid goaltending from both Dustin Wolf and Daniel Vladar. They’ve seen strong starts from veterans Jonathan Huberdeau and Nazem Kadri, and a hot offensive output from Rasmus Andersson. The Flames have even been able to continue to win points despite some injuries due to contributions from youngsters like Matthew Coronato, and one of the best stories early in the season, Justin Kirkland.
Despite the early good vibes, recent games have started to show some of the flaws we expected this season. The Flames have taken some bad penalties in the offensive zone. The Flames’ defence, which is full of question marks, has also been caught running around and out of position more in recent games. Calgary will need to sure up defensively and get back to using their speed to create more offensive chances.
Prediction
The Flames are turning back to undefeated goaltender Dustin Wolf and should come out with good energy following a tough loss. They’ve shown plenty of resilience and heart early in this season. This team has shown they may be better than we expected before the season.
Winnipeg is going to lose a game at some point. However, this Winnipeg team just looks far better both on paper and in their start to the season. With Hellebuyck expected to start and a healthy Jets roster, expect them to be able to outlast a solid effort from a motivated Flames team.
Prediction: Jets win 4-2
Prop Bets of the Night
Bet365 has the over/under right on our predicted total of 6 goals and the spread is close to our two goal difference at 1.5, so we’re staying away from that and focusing on player props.
On the Jets side, we like Kyle Connor to take advantage of the Flames discipline issues and record over 0.5 powerplay points at +3.50. We also like Cole Perfetti to stay hot and record over 0.5 points at +2.32.
On the Flames side look for Nazem Kadri to record a point and go over the 0.5 points line at +1.44.
Main photo by: Sergei Belski-Imagn Images
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