Oilers vs. Flames Prediction and Odds for Game 1 (Calgary Looks to Stay Hot in Battle of Alberta)

The Battle of Alberta makes a rare playoff appearance with a second-round series between the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames. In fact, it’s the first time these two bitter rivals have faced off in the Stanley Cup Playoffs since 1991. And it barely happened this year. 

Both teams were pushed to the brink of elimination and the Flames needed seven games and 15:09 of overtime to put away the Dallas Stars. A big win to be sure, but the odds suggested that the Flames would dominate Dallas. 

Game 1 of this series is scheduled for Wednesday night so let’s take an early look at this series opener and pick a winner. 

Here are the odds for tonight’s matchup, courtesy of WynnBET Sportsbook.

Moneyline: Puck line: Total:

Connor McDavid continues to make his case for the best player in the NHL as he led all scorers in the opening round with 14 points in seven games. He also led the NHL in assists during that span with 10. It’s safe to say that the Oilers will continue to rely heavily on McDavid while the Flames will scramble to slow him down. Evander Kane will punish that type of behavior as he ranks second in goals at seven.

The Flames have a phenomenal offense, but how will they do trying to stop these two superstars upfront? Their defense is certainly better than the Kings and I don’t expect Kane and McDavid to see quite the production they did in the opening round. 

One area that concerns me about Edmonton is their habit of choosing to play offense over defense. To put it another way, they sacrifice defense pressure to try and overwhelm opposing defenses. This might have worked against the Kings, but the Flames’ offense is too good to half-ass defend.

I’ll take the home favorites here as the better overall team with the home-ice advantage. 

Pick: Flames -160 to Win

Follow all of Matt De Saro’s betting picks HERE.