NHL hockey betting picks: Nashville @ Calgary
Added on Jan 15, 2010 by Jack Thurman in
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Only two pro hockey games for sports betting docket tonight, but we’ll take a NHL betting position on the Nashville Predators/Calgary Flames game. Flames have lost two straight and four of five and with it the lead in the Northwest Division. As a result, they’ve dropped all the way to sixth place in the Western Conference standings behind division leading Colorado, Nashville and Phoenix. They’re only 1 point ahead of seventh place Vancouver and 3 points ahead of 8th place Los Angeles. With the competitive nature of the Western Conference this season, they simply can’t afford to lose any more ground.
Nashville Predators at Calgary Flames
January 15, 6:05 Pacific
The Flames only have one option to win consistently. They have to play shutdown defense and get stellar goaltending from Mikka Kiprusoff. They rank #19 in team per game scoring average, and even giving up two or three goals seriously undermines their chances of victory. Calgary hasn’t won a game where they’ve allowed more than two goals since late November. The Flames haven’t played ‘Over’ the total in ten games and only once in their last 12. With Nashville among the pack of teams in middle of the Western Conference fighting for playoff seeding this is a crucial game for both teams and should have plenty of defensive intensity.
Nashville’s offense isn’t quite as pitiful as Calgary’s but they’ve gone ‘Under’ in five of their last seven games. The Flames have done a good job dictating tempo and style at home where they’ve gone ‘Under’ in 15 of 24 this year. And as we’ve discussed before, in Calgary’s case they’ve proven to be a team that goes on long ‘Under’ runs. They’ve now gone ‘Under’ in 12 of 15 spots this year after playing 3 or more consecutive ‘Unders’. Teams have already played three times this season with two of those games staying ‘Under’ the total as have five of the last nine head to head meetings. Look for another low scoring Calgary game tonight.
Bet Nashville/Calgary Under 5′ -140
