Edmonton's Connor McDavid and Calgary's Nazem Kadri headline Best Bets options for Wednesday's season opener between the Oilers and Flames.
Hockey fans get more NHL action Wednesday with a loaded slate of marquee matchups featuring some of the biggest teams and rivalries in the league with the biggest being the Battle of Alberta between the Edmonton Oilers and the Calgary Flames. It should set up to be a thrilling night of games with several chances to hit it big and win cash along the way. We're looking to build off a successful first night of games on Tuesday as well as some player props from last season in Mitch Marner, Mark Scheifele, Wyatt Johnston, Rasmus Dahlin, Teuvo Teravainen and Connor Hellebuyck.
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Nylander, Caufield Poised To Boost Offense In High-Scoring Leafs-Habs Season Opener
Toronto's William Nylander and Montreal's Cole Caufield headline Best Bets options for Wednesday's season opener between the Maple Leafs and Canadiens.
Calgary Flames vs Edmonton Oilers Best Bets:
Over 6.0 goals (-115)
Connor McDavid anytime goal
Nazem Kadri Over 0.5 Points (-153)
The Oilers have started to dominated this battle with 11 wins over their last 14 matchups versus the Flames with 12 of those matchups totaling over five goals so keep an eye on the live lines if there's no early goals. As for the 6.0 goal total line heading into Wednesday's season opener, the Flames and Oilers have pushed their games to six or more goals in 12 of last 19 games with all three of their matchups last season totalling five or more goals so again watch for the live lines to drop if given the chance.
One of the standouts in this matchup is surprisingly netminder Stuart Skinner as the hometown Edmonton native has a stellar 2.06 career goals against average and a .939 save percentage in eight appearances against the Flames. He’s lost two of his last three starts against Calgary, but when he’s at his best, the Flames simply can’t keep pace.
The Oilers prolific offense is what normally drives these matchups to high totals as the dynamic duo of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl are very difficult to beat. McDavid has dominated the Battle of Alberta with 16 goals and 30 assists for 46 points in his last 25 games versus Calgary, including 14 multi-point games and eight games with three or more points.
At one point, the Oilers’ captain went on a run of six goals in eight games against the Flames, but he’s cooled off since, going without a goal in his last five meetings with them. He should correct this and start the season off with a bang as McDavid looks to snap another scoring drought with a goal in just one of his last five season openers.
Calgary's Dustin Wolf will do his best to slow down the back-to-back Western Conference Champions although has only seen their offense once in his career and it resulted in a 3-2 loss with Draisaitl scoring twice and McDavid out of the lineup. Wolf may have a hard time going against a top end talent like McDavid having never played him before. Because of this, the Flames could be behind fast and early meaning they will need their offense to respond.
Calgary's offense appears younger than ever but also inexperienced with a lot of the pressure being placed on Flames top scorer last season, Nazem Kadri. The 35-year-old center recorded 67 points last season, including a career-high 35 goals, and with the amount of youth in Calgary's lineup, he'll likely be tasked to do so again.
Kadri was held off the scoresheet in two of three meetings with the Oilers last season, but before that, he had recorded 11 goals and eight assists for 19 points in 22 games against them. He’s expected to be a key driver of the Flames’ offense again on Wednesday and is listed at a solid value.
Matthews and Draisaitl Poised for Another Explosive Goal Race
New future bet pins Toronto's Auston Matthews against Edmonton's Leon Draisaitl for who will score more goals last season.