{"id":465169,"date":"2025-03-22T08:13:43","date_gmt":"2025-03-22T12:13:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=465169"},"modified":"2025-03-21T22:29:09","modified_gmt":"2025-03-22T02:29:09","slug":"nhl-predictions-march-22nd-calgary-flames-vs-new-york-islanders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2025\/03\/22\/nhl-predictions-march-22nd-calgary-flames-vs-new-york-islanders\/","title":{"rendered":"NHL Predictions: March 22nd Calgary Flames vs New York Islanders"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome to NHL Predictions<\/a>. Each day,\u00a0<\/span>Last Word on Hockey<\/span><\/em>\u00a0looks at the games happening and gives our predictions for each one, breaking down head-to-head matchups and other factors that may play in. Today, we\u2019re looking at the\u00a0Calgary Flames<\/a> against the New York Islanders. Be sure to check out more NHL Predictions every day there\u2019s hockey this 2024-25 season.<\/span><\/p>\n

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

Calgary Flames (32-25-11) vs\u00a0 New York Islanders (32-28-8)\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

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

Time:<\/span><\/strong> 4:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT)<\/span><\/p>\n

TV:<\/strong> NHL Power Play on\u00a0ESPN+<\/span>\u00a0|<\/span>\u00a0H<\/span>\u00a0MSGSN<\/span>\u00a0| <\/span>Sportsnet<\/p>\n

The New York Islanders and Calgary Flames are in very similar positions with just 14 games remaining each. The Islanders and Flames are just two points out of the final playoff spot in their respective conferences. The Flames and Islanders will both be looking for a big two-point performance in today’s action. The two teams have more in common than just their spot in the standings. Both teams are some of the lowest scoring teams in the league and they both find themselves in the top half of the league in keeping goals out of their nets. These trends came to fruition in their only head-to-head game this season. In their first matchup this season, Calgary outlasted New York, winning 2-1 in a shootout on home ice. Let’s take a close look at how both rosters are playing heading into today’s action and predict the most likely outcome.<\/p>\n

Flames Building Momentum<\/span><\/h3>\n

The Calgary Flames have been battling for a playoff spot all season long. Calgary was supposed to be heading for a top-ten draft pick. Instead, they find themselves in an exciting race to the playoffs. Calgary has defied the odds by being a scrappy defensive team. When they bring their best effort they’ve proven they can hang around with the best teams in the league, and they’ve found ways to win more one goal games than they’ve lost. The Flames are coming off to impressive wins in the New York area. They dominated the New York Rangers on Tuesday night, outshooting the Rangers 35-13. The score would have been very different if not for Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin<\/a>. The Flames followed that up with an impressive come back 5-3 win over the New Jersey Devils. Calgary is looking to build on these two impressive games and go 3-0 in New York.<\/p>\n

The Flames are sporting new forward lines in their last two games. The changes have seemed to boost the play of some key young forwards. Connor Zary<\/a> and Matthew Coronato<\/a> have both looked great in the last two games. This is vital for Calgary, as the majority of their goal-scoring has come from veterans Jonathan Huberdeau<\/a> and Nazem Kadri<\/a>. If the Flames hope to make the playoffs they’ll need others to contribute offensively. Calgary has been getting solid goaltending all season from both Dustin Wolf<\/a> and Daniel Vladar<\/a>. Rookie sensation, Dustin Wolf<\/a> has become the Flames number one, but they’ll need both goaltenders down the stretch. The Flames will be hoping whoever they start against the Islanders can continue their strong play and keep the Islanders in check. Without good goaltending a loss for Calgary is an easy prediction.<\/p>\n

New York Islanders Making Playoff Push<\/h3>\n

At the trade deadline, the Islanders traded<\/a> veteran forward Brock Nelson<\/a> and prospect William Dufour<\/a> to the Colorado Avalanche. In return, they acquired top prospect Calum Ritchie<\/a>, a first-round pick in either the 2026 or 2027 NHL Draft and a conditional third-round pick in the 2028 draft. Ritchie, known for his two-way play, is expected to be a significant asset in the coming seasons. This trade appeared to signal a shift to improving the roster for the future. However, the Islanders remaining roster wasn’t ready to give up on this season.<\/p>\n

The New York Islanders have recently bolstered their playoff aspirations with a thrilling 4-3 overtime victory against the Montreal Canadiens. Bo Horvat<\/a> was instrumental, netting two goals, including the decisive overtime winner. Goaltender Ilya Sorokin<\/a> also delivered a standout performance, making 38 saves and contributing two assists. This win marks the Islanders’ third consecutive victory, bringing them within two points of the Canadiens for the final Eastern Conference wild card spot. Their power play, previously struggling, showed signs of resurgence by converting two critical goals in this matchup. The Islanders have scored four goals in each of their three victories. If they can reach four goals against Calgary they will have a strong chance to win their fourth game in a row.<\/p>\n

NHL Predictions for the Flames vs Islanders<\/h3>\n

Calgary is coming off two solid performances on the road. They’ve rarely managed to score four goals in a single game, but in New Jersey, they put up four in the final period for a big comeback win. As fun as that was, we shouldn’t expect the Flames offence to produce like that again. Expect Calgary to bring a strong effort and try and win a low-scoring affair.<\/p>\n

The Islanders are playing some of their best hockey at the most important time. With the Flames lack of offence and the confidence the Islanders have right now, they should be able to find a way to score one more than Calgary. Expect the Islanders to find a way to get an extra goal on the power play against a Flames team that’s had its struggles on the penalty kill.<\/p>\n

Prediction: Islanders Win 3-2<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Prop Bets of the Night<\/h3>\n

Simon Holmstrom is having a career year in his third season in the NHL. The former first-round pick is closing in on a twenty-goal season. Having scored in the last two games and getting first power play minutes he’s a prime candidate to stay hot and score for the third straight contest against Calgary. At +290 as an anytime goal scorer Holmstrom is a good prop bet candidate.<\/p>\n

The Flames offence continues to run through Kadri and Huberdeau who both scored in their last game. A parlay with both of the veteran forwards picking up a point each is worth a look.<\/p>\n

Main Photo Credit: Sergei Belski-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Please play responsibly, and check for your local rules and age restrictions, some jurisdictions require ages 21+. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER.<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Welcome to NHL Predictions. Each day,\u00a0Last Word on Hockey\u00a0looks at the games happening and gives our predictions for each one, breaking down head-to-head matchups and other factors that may play in. Today, we\u2019re looking at the\u00a0Calgary Flames against the New York Islanders. Be sure to check out more NHL Predictions every day there\u2019s hockey this […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5244,"featured_media":463262,"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":[22,4547,17,4548,4524],"tags":[6015,6084],"class_list":["post-465169","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-flames","category-hockey","category-islanders","category-nhl","category-nhl-predictions","tag-calgary-flames-predictions","tag-new-york-islanders-predictions"],"modified_by":"Levi Pike, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/465169","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=465169"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/465169\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":465215,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/465169\/revisions\/465215"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/463262"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=465169"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=465169"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=465169"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}