by Chuck Sommers
Saturday, Feb 25, 2023
Time: 10 p.m. ET
Venue: Ball Arena, Denver, CO
Where to watch: ALT, CITY, SN, CBC
Opening Odds at USA Sportsbooks
DraftKings: Avalanche -135, Flames +115
FanDuel: Avalanche -135, Flames +115
BetMGM: Avalanche -145, Flames +115
Caesars: Avalanche -130, Flames +115
Season record
Flames: 27-20-12
Avalanche: 32-19-5
The All-Star break is over, the second half of the NHL season can officially begin, and we're bound for what should be a very exciting second half of the hockey season. Basketball and hockey are about to rule the roost in the sports betting world once the Super Bowl is done with, and we should all be very excited for what's to come. When the trade deadline hits and players switch teams, you know things are about to get hectic over these final 30 games or so. One way you can stay tuned with the action is following what our champion handicappers are doing in the world of the NHL. Look at ASA, Inc., reeling in a $6,750 profit off a 17-9-0 run. Al McMordie is also doing well on the ice with a 13-5-0 run and a net profit of $6,050. Scott Rickenbach has also been hanging strong with a lot of betting action, in what's been an unusual year, with a 24-18-0 run and reeling in $5,950. You know this action is going to be great now that games are back and a busy second half if on the horizon. All you need to do is head to our BEST BETS page at bigal.com to find out all of what we're trying to tell you. Make sure you're locked in at bigal.com and go to our Best Bets page to find out what our champion handicappers have to say in the world of the NHL!
Flames - Avalanche preview, prediction and analysis
The Calgary Flames will be playing The Colorado Avalanche on Saturday, February 25 in Denver, Colorado.
The Calgary Flames lost against the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday, February 23 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada with a score of 4-3 in overtime. The Calgary Flames currently rank 5th in the Pacific Division.
Mikael Backlund scored for the fourth straight game, and Vladar made 25 saves for Calgary (27-20-12), which won 6-3 at the Arizona Coyotes on Wednesday.
"We had a real good start. Fatigue caught up to us a little bit," Flames coach Darryl Sutter said. "It's tough [to only get a point], but I was concerned with the quick turn, but you got to stay positive."
Jakob Pelletier gave Calgary a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal at 13:25 of the first period when he batted the puck into the net off the rebound of Backlund's shot.
Jonathan Huberdeau made it 2-0 at 1:24 of the second period after taking a pass from Pelletier, deking to his left, and sliding a shot past Brossoit.
Jack Eichel cut it to 2-1 at 14:27 with a snap shot from the left circle on the power play for his fourth goal in six games. It ended a 0-for-25 streak with the man-advantage for the Golden Knights dating to Jan. 22.
Backlund tipped in a Blake Coleman shot at 16:34 to push the lead to 3-1. Zach Whitecloud and William Carrier scored for Vegas to tie the game. Alex Pietrangelo scored 42 seconds into overtime to give the Vegas Golden Knights a 4-3 win.
The Calgary Flames have won four of their last 10 games.
The Colorado Avalanche won against the Winnipeg Jets on Friday, February 24 at Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg with a score of 5-1. The Colorado Avalanche currently rank 4th in the Central Division.
Nathan MacKinnon extended his multipoint game streak to six.
"Some of our top finishers in MacKinnon and [Mikko] Rantanen, they kind of lead the way out of the gate and it carried over for the rest of our hockey game," Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. "I think we had a good start, no question. We were skating, we were winning some puck touches in the D-zone that got us off to the races and odd-man rushes. I just thought we had some good jump."
MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen, and J.T. Compher each had a goal and an assist, and Alexandar Georgiev made 26 saves for the Avalanche (32-19-5), who are 5-0-1 in their past six games.
"What a great first period for us," Georgiev said. "We came out strong and capitalized on the chances right away and kind of had control of the game ever since then."
MacKinnon scored on a breakaway 19 seconds into the first period to give the Avalanche a 1-0 lead.
"Probably a good burst of energy for us to start off strong," Georgiev said. "For me, still a lot of hockey left, so you try to forget and keep going like that. It was a good thing that we came out strong like that."
Mason Appleton tied it 1-1 at 3:12, tipping Nate Schmidt's point shot on the power play.
Rantanen made it 2-1 at 4:32, scoring from the left circle on a 2-on-1 rush for his NHL career-high 37th goal.
"[We had] some really good discipline, structurally sound, made them earn all their chances," Bednar said. "I thought we did a nice job on the defending side of it, moved the puck pretty efficiently tonight, so it turned out to be a pretty good performance for our group."
Compher pushed it to 3-1 at 7:34 when Rantanen's shot from the point deflected off him and, and Bowen Byram extended it to 4-1 at 10:58 from the top of the slot.
Said Compher: "We were rested and we got some good practice in this week [with four days off]. We were ready right from the puck drop and continued it for 60 minutes tonight."
Matt Nieto scored from the right point at 10:59 of the second period for the 5-1 final.
"They're coming off a [four-game] road trip and the first game back is always tough," Bednar said. "We wanted to have an energized start. We did it and we capitalized on some chances."
The Colorado Avalanche have won six of their last 10 games.
Prediction
Avalanche 4, Flames 2
The Calgary Flames lost against the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday, February 23 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada with a score of 4-3 in overtime. The Calgary Flames currently rank 5th in the Pacific Division.
Mikael Backlund scored for the fourth straight game, and Vladar made 25 saves for Calgary (27-20-12), which won 6-3 at the Arizona Coyotes on Wednesday.
"We had a real good start. Fatigue caught up to us a little bit," Flames coach Darryl Sutter said. "It's tough [to only get a point], but I was concerned with the quick turn, but you got to stay positive."
Jakob Pelletier gave Calgary a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal at 13:25 of the first period when he batted the puck into the net off the rebound of Backlund's shot.
Jonathan Huberdeau made it 2-0 at 1:24 of the second period after taking a pass from Pelletier, deking to his left, and sliding a shot past Brossoit.
Jack Eichel cut it to 2-1 at 14:27 with a snap shot from the left circle on the power play for his fourth goal in six games. It ended a 0-for-25 streak with the man-advantage for the Golden Knights dating to Jan. 22.
Backlund tipped in a Blake Coleman shot at 16:34 to push the lead to 3-1. Zach Whitecloud and William Carrier scored for Vegas to tie the game. Alex Pietrangelo scored 42 seconds into overtime to give the Vegas Golden Knights a 4-3 win.
The Calgary Flames have won four of their last 10 games.
The Colorado Avalanche won against the Winnipeg Jets on Friday, February 24 at Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg with a score of 5-1. The Colorado Avalanche currently rank 4th in the Central Division.
Nathan MacKinnon extended his multipoint game streak to six.
"Some of our top finishers in MacKinnon and [Mikko] Rantanen, they kind of lead the way out of the gate and it carried over for the rest of our hockey game," Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. "I think we had a good start, no question. We were skating, we were winning some puck touches in the D-zone that got us off to the races and odd-man rushes. I just thought we had some good jump."
MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen, and J.T. Compher each had a goal and an assist, and Alexandar Georgiev made 26 saves for the Avalanche (32-19-5), who are 5-0-1 in their past six games.
"What a great first period for us," Georgiev said. "We came out strong and capitalized on the chances right away and kind of had control of the game ever since then."
MacKinnon scored on a breakaway 19 seconds into the first period to give the Avalanche a 1-0 lead.
"Probably a good burst of energy for us to start off strong," Georgiev said. "For me, still a lot of hockey left, so you try to forget and keep going like that. It was a good thing that we came out strong like that."
Mason Appleton tied it 1-1 at 3:12, tipping Nate Schmidt's point shot on the power play.
Rantanen made it 2-1 at 4:32, scoring from the left circle on a 2-on-1 rush for his NHL career-high 37th goal.
"[We had] some really good discipline, structurally sound, made them earn all their chances," Bednar said. "I thought we did a nice job on the defending side of it, moved the puck pretty efficiently tonight, so it turned out to be a pretty good performance for our group."
Compher pushed it to 3-1 at 7:34 when Rantanen's shot from the point deflected off him and, and Bowen Byram extended it to 4-1 at 10:58 from the top of the slot.
Said Compher: "We were rested and we got some good practice in this week [with four days off]. We were ready right from the puck drop and continued it for 60 minutes tonight."
Matt Nieto scored from the right point at 10:59 of the second period for the 5-1 final.
"They're coming off a [four-game] road trip and the first game back is always tough," Bednar said. "We wanted to have an energized start. We did it and we capitalized on some chances."
The Colorado Avalanche have won six of their last 10 games.
Prediction
Avalanche 4, Flames 2
Betting trends
Underdog is 9-3 in the last 12 meetings.
Road team is 5-2 in the last seven meetings.
Avalanche is 71-25 in the last 96 against teams with a losing record.
Projected lines
Flames:
Dillon Dube -- Elias Lindholm -- Tyler Toffoli
Jakob Pelletier -- Nazem Kadri -- Jonathan Huberdeau
Andrew Mangiapane -- Mikael Backlund -- Blake Coleman
Milan Lucic -- Trevor Lewis -- Walker Duehr
Noah Hanifin -- Rasmus Andersson
MacKenzie Weegar -- Chris Tanev
Nikita Zadorov -- Dennis Gilbert
Jacob Markstrom
Dillon Dube -- Elias Lindholm -- Tyler Toffoli
Jakob Pelletier -- Nazem Kadri -- Jonathan Huberdeau
Andrew Mangiapane -- Mikael Backlund -- Blake Coleman
Milan Lucic -- Trevor Lewis -- Walker Duehr
Noah Hanifin -- Rasmus Andersson
MacKenzie Weegar -- Chris Tanev
Nikita Zadorov -- Dennis Gilbert
Jacob Markstrom
Avalanche:
Artturi Lehkonen -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Valeri Nichushkin
Evan Rodrigues -- J.T. Compher -- Mikko Rantanen
Denis Malgin -- Alex Newhook -- Logan O'Connor
Andrew Cogliano -- Matt Nieto
Samuel Girard -- Devon Toews
Josh Manson -- Bowen Byram
Kurtis MacDermid -- Andreas Englund
Brad Hunt
Alexandar Georgiev
Artturi Lehkonen -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Valeri Nichushkin
Evan Rodrigues -- J.T. Compher -- Mikko Rantanen
Denis Malgin -- Alex Newhook -- Logan O'Connor
Andrew Cogliano -- Matt Nieto
Samuel Girard -- Devon Toews
Josh Manson -- Bowen Byram
Kurtis MacDermid -- Andreas Englund
Brad Hunt
Alexandar Georgiev
Don't miss our champion handicappers' free picks and expert hockey picks today. And if you enjoyed this Calgary Flames - Colorado Avalanche prediction, be sure to drop by every day for our daily NHL projections and previews.
Chuck Sommers
About the Author:
Chuck Sommers has camped outside of sportsbooks since he can remember, learning the tricks and nuances of the trade. He still has nightmares of betting $5,000 on the Raiders in the Tuck Rule game but has since turned that to 25 years of veteran handicapping greatness. You can find him mostly in the shadows at the Red Rock or Aliante casinos wondering if the over is cashing on any given Sunday.
