{"id":462837,"date":"2025-02-23T08:15:45","date_gmt":"2025-02-23T13:15:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=462837"},"modified":"2025-02-22T22:51:58","modified_gmt":"2025-02-23T03:51:58","slug":"nhl-predictions-feb-23-san-jose-sharks-vs-calgary-flames","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2025\/02\/23\/nhl-predictions-feb-23-san-jose-sharks-vs-calgary-flames\/","title":{"rendered":"NHL Predictions: Feb 23 San Jose Sharks vs Calgary Flames"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome back to NHL Predictions. Each day,\u00a0<\/span>Last Word on Hockey<\/span><\/em> looks at the scheduled games. It offers insight and analysis to help predict who will be victorious in head-to-head matchups. Today, we are looking at the game between the <\/span>San Jose Sharks<\/span><\/a> and\u00a0<\/span>Calgary Flames<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0Check out more NHL Predictions as the 2024-25 season continues.<\/span><\/p>\n

NHL Predictions<\/span><\/h2>\n

San Jose Sharks (15-35-7) vs\u00a0 Calgary Flames (26-21-8)\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

Head-to-Head: Flames lead 1-0<\/span><\/h4>\n

Time: <\/span><\/strong>8 p.m. Eastern Standard Time<\/span><\/p>\n

TV:<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0ESPN+\u00a0|\u00a0A\u00a0NBCSCA\u00a0| SN360, SNW<\/span><\/p>\n

The Calgary Flames and San Jose Sharks were supposed to be in a similar standing at this point in the season. Both teams were rebuilding their rosters and looking to continue to acquire picks and young prospects. However, this Calgary Flames team has decided to go another direction, fighting for a playoff spot all season. In their first season meeting, the Flames outlasted the young Sharks, eventually winning 3-1 with a late empty net goal. Let’s dive into how both teams stack up heading into tonight’s game and predict how this game could play out.<\/span><\/p>\n

San Jose Focused On Development<\/span><\/h3>\n

The San Jose Sharks currently sit last in the NHL with just 37 points on the year. This would mean a worst-case scenario for most teams, but for a team in the early stages of a rebuild, this is precisely where they want to find themselves. San Jose is in the perfect position to add another top pick to an exciting young core. San Jose rosters the odds on favourite to win the <\/span>Calder Trophy<\/span><\/a> in <\/span>Macklin Celebrini<\/span><\/a>. The <\/span>first overall draft pick<\/span><\/a> from a season ago currently sits second on the team, scoring 40 points in 45 games. Alongside Celebrini, San Jose is developing another exciting young forward in <\/span>William Smith<\/span><\/a>. The former 4th overall selection has suited up in 49 games this season, recording 23 points.<\/span><\/p>\n

San Jose comes into action tonight on a four-game losing streak, although the <\/span>Four Nations Faceoff<\/span><\/a> break will serve as a reset for all teams. The Sharks sit last in the league in goals against, without a proven number one goaltender and shaky team defence. Although they have some offensive talent, they can’t outscore their deficiencies. The Sharks will continue to focus on developing their young core rather than worry about wins and losses the rest of the season.<\/span><\/p>\n

Flames Find Themselves In Must-Win Territory<\/span><\/h3>\n

As we discussed above, the <\/span>Calgary Flames were supposed to be one of the worst teams<\/span><\/a> in the league this season. Entering year two of a rebuild, they had unproven players all over the ice. However, Calgary got off to a terrific start and has continued to find ways to win, keeping them in the playoff picture all season long. Despite this success, Calgary currently sits 3 points out of the playoffs with just 27 games. With ground to make and just over a quarter of the season remaining, Calgary is now in must-win territory to make the playoffs.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Flames currently sit 30th in the league in goals for, and struggle to create offence. With their lack of high-end talent, they need to play tight defensive hockey and can’t afford to lose any games to teams below them in the standings. The Flames recently made an exciting <\/span>trade<\/span><\/a> to acquire young forwards <\/span>Morgan Frost<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Joel Farabee<\/span><\/a> from the Philadelphia Flyers. The Flames will need these two to help provide depth scoring behind the Flames veterans <\/span>Jonathan Huberdeau<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Nazem Kadri<\/span><\/a>, who currently lead the team in scoring.<\/span><\/p>\n

The offence will only matter if Calgary keeps the puck out of their net. The Flames have a Calder Trophy candidate of their own in goal, <\/span>Dustin Wolf<\/span><\/a>. The rookie goaltender has been the Flames MVP this season, although he showed signs of slowing down heading into the breaks. If Calgary has any shot at the playoffs, they’ll need Wolf to regain his form starting tonight.<\/span><\/p>\n

NHL Predictions Flames and Sharks<\/span><\/h3>\n

Both teams will come into tonight’s action well-rested and ready to play. With the San Jose Sharks so far out of the playoffs, they don’t have a ton of motivation, and with the trade deadline looming, this group could find themselves a little distracted. Expect them to keep the game close early, but the Flames may be too much on this night.<\/span><\/p>\n

This game is a must-win for a Calgary team with its eyes on the playoffs. Calgary should come into action rested and potentially healthier than when they last played. Defenceman <\/span>Kevin Bahl<\/span><\/a> and forward <\/span>Connor Zary<\/span><\/a>, both big pieces of this team, have been skating with the team and could return tonight. Regardless of reinforcements, expect Calgary to be the more urgent team, and despite not being able to pull away, they should be able to outlast a weak Sharks team.<\/span><\/p>\n

Prediction: Flames Win 3-2<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Prop Bets of The Night<\/span><\/h3>\n

If you can find a line with the over\/under set at 6, this game with these two teams has under 6 goals written all over it.<\/span><\/p>\n

For a player prop, former Flames <\/span>Tyler Toffoli<\/span><\/a> leads the Sharks with 20 goals, and former Flames have a habit of playing well against Calgary. It could be worth taking Toffoli as an anytime goal-scorer at +210.<\/span><\/p>\n

Main Photo: D. Ross Cameron- Imagn Images<\/em><\/p>\n

Please play responsibly. Check for your local rules and age restrictions. Some jurisdictions require ages 21+. Have a gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER<\/span><\/em><\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Welcome back to NHL Predictions. Each day,\u00a0Last Word on Hockey looks at the scheduled games. It offers insight and analysis to help predict who will be victorious in head-to-head matchups. Today, we are looking at the game between the San Jose Sharks and\u00a0Calgary Flames.\u00a0Check out more NHL Predictions as the 2024-25 season continues. NHL Predictions […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5244,"featured_media":462872,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4524,4547,4548],"tags":[103,6015,4503,6060],"class_list":["post-462837","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nhl-predictions","category-hockey","category-nhl","tag-calgary-flames","tag-calgary-flames-predictions","tag-nhl-predictions","tag-san-jose-sharks-predictions"],"modified_by":"Andrew Willis","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462837","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5244"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=462837"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462837\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":462873,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462837\/revisions\/462873"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/462872"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=462837"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=462837"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=462837"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}