Calgary Flames vs. Vancouver Canucks: Prediction, Preview, Picks & Odds - 3/31/2023

Time: 10 p.m. ET

Venue: Rogers Arena, Vancouver, BC

Where to watch: SN, SN1

DraftKings: Flames -125, Canucks +105

BetMGM: Flames -125, Canucks +105

Caesars: Flames -125, Canucks +105

Flames: 34-26-15

Canucks: 34-34-6

The Calgary Flames will be playing the Vancouver Canucks on Friday, March 31 in Vancouver.

The Calgary Flames won against the Los Angeles Kings last Tuesday, March 28 at Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary with a score of 2-1. The Calgary Flames currently rank 5th in the Pacific Division.

Jacob Markstrom made 33 saves, and the Calgary Flames ended the Los Angeles Kings' 12-game point streak.

Andrew Mangiapane and Walker Duehr scored for the Flames (34-26-15), who have won three of their past four games.

"It felt like kind of a playoff game," Duehr said. "We had our pushes, they had their pushes. I thought 'Marky' stood on his head tonight and gave us a chance to win, for sure."

Calgary pulled within two points of the Winnipeg Jets for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference. Winnipeg lost 3-0 at the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday.

"Big two points," Markstrom said. "Put them in the books and then go back to work."

Mangiapane gave the Flames a 1-0 lead at 1:54 of the first period when he chipped a loose puck on a blocked shot by Korpisalo's blocker on the power play.

Rasmus Andersson thought he scored a short-handed goal at 7:39 for Calgary, but Los Angeles successfully challenged that Noah Hanifin preceded the puck into the offensive zone.

Sean Durzi tied it 1-1 at 9:24 with a shot top corner over Markstrom's blocker from the top of the right face-off circle.

Duehr put the Flames up 2-1 at 17:59 when he corralled a rebound off the end boards from Trevor Lewis' wide chance and shot short side before Korpisalo could get set.

"I think he was just trying to shoot," Duehr said. "Just a good bounce there for us and I was able to put it in."

Markstrom made a right-pad save on Kevin Fiala's clear-cut breakaway from center ice with 33 second remaining in the first.

"It's huge. He was good all night," Calgary center Elias Lindholm said. "Real sharp. We need him to play like that."

The Flames thought they scored again at 11:49 of the second period, but there was no conclusive evidence in a video review initiated by the NHL Situation Room to determine that the puck completely crossed the goal line.

Markstrom scrambled to his left to make an arm save on Fiala on a backdoor pass from Mikey Anderson from the left point at 14:41.

The Calgary Flames have won five of their last 10 games.

The Vancouver Canucks lost against the St. Lous Blues last Tuesday, March 28 at Enterprise Center in St. Louis, Missouri with a score of 6-5 in overtime. The Vancouver Canucks currently rank 6th in the Pacific Division.

Quinn Hughes had two goals and an assist, Andrei Kuzmenko scored twice, and Brock Boeser had a goal and two assists for the Canucks (34-34-6), who had won three straight and 10 of 12. Thatcher Demko made 25 saves.

"We battled hard," Vancouver coach Rick Tocchet said. "There's a bunch of guys who really battled hard for us there in the third period. I went to three lines and got us back in the game."

Hughes gave Vancouver a 1-0 lead at 6:06 of the first period, finishing into an open net from the right circle on a rebound.

Alexey Toropchenko tied it 1-1 at 11:50. After he intercepted a pass by Guillaume Brisebois intended for J.T. Miller at the Canucks' blue line, he kept the puck and scored glove side on a 2-on-1 from the left circle.

"'Torpo' scored a nice goal," Berube said. "That line [Toropchenko, Nathan Walker and Tyler Pitlick] was good for us."

Justin Faulk gave St. Louis a 2-1 lead at 16:48, scoring short side on a one-timer from the left circle.

"Our [defensive] zone coverage early wasn't good, obviously," Tocchet said.

Kuzmemko tied it 2-2 at 19:41 on a power play when he redirected a centering pass from Miller.

Jakob Vrana restored the Blues' lead to 3-2 at 7:24 of the second period. After Nick Leddy forced a turnover by Boeser along the boards, Saad passed the puck to Vrana for a one-timer from the high slot.

Robert Thomas and Buchnevich then scored 1:28 apart to give St. Louis a three-goal lead. Thomas scored a power-play goal from the top of the right circle to make it 4-2 at 12:08 before Buchnevich got behind the defense and redirected a saucer pass from Kasperi Kapanen at 13:36 to make it 5-2.

Boeser cut it to 5-3 at 18:28 when he redirected a point shot by Hughes on a power play.

"It was not our best, but we gave ourselves a chance and got back in it," Hughes said. "I don't think we played that well in the first [period], to be honest. We didn't really play that well in the second either. We made some plays in the third."

Kuzmenko cut it to 5-4 at 12:18 of the third period after receiving a spinning pass from Elias Pettersson, and Hughes tied it 5-5 at 19:06 when his point shot went in off the skate of Marco Scandella during a 6-on-5.

"I think in the third, we got a little too passive, gave up too many opportunities," said Blues forward Brandon Saad, who had two assists. "They have a lot of skill and can score goals. Obviously, [we] want to tighten that up. Regardless, we're happy to get the win."

Jakub Vrana scored twice, including 28 seconds into overtime, and the St. Louis Blues recovered for a 6-5 win.

The Vancouver Canucks have won seven of their last 10 games.

Prediction

The door, somehow, is open for the Flames. Not sure how they let this one slip. Flames 3, Canucks 2

Flames:

Andrew Mangiapane -- Elias Lindholm -- Tyler Toffoli

Jonathan Huberdeau -- Mikael Backlund -- Blake Coleman

Nick Ritchie -- Nazem Kadri -- Dillon Dube

Milan Lucic -- Trevor Lewis -- Walker Duehr

Noah Hanifin -- Rasmus Andersson

Nikita Zadorov -- MacKenzie Weegar

Dennis Gilbert -- Troy Stecher

Jacob Markstrom

Canucks:

Andrei Kuzmenko -- Elias Pettersson -- Dakota Joshua

Phillip Di Giuseppe -- J.T. Miller -- Brock Boeser

Anthony Beauvillier -- Sheldon Dries -- Conor Garland

Vitali Kravtsov -- Nils Aman -- Jack Studnicka

Quinn Hughes -- Tyler Myers

Guillaume Brisebois -- Filip Hronek

Kyle Burroughs -- Ethan Bear

Thatcher Demko