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The New York Islanders and Calgary Flames meet Saturday in NHL action at the Scotiabank Saddledome. The New York Islanders need a win after losing five of their last eight games. The Calgary Flames look to build on their five-game winning streak.
The New York Islanders are averaging 2.5 goals per game and are scoring on 17.5 percent of their power play opportunities. Brock Nelson leads New York with 15 goals, Mathew Barzal has 18 assists and Oliver Wahlstrom has 99 shots on goal. Defensively, the New York Islanders are allowing 2.6 goals per game and are killing 83.2 percent of their opponent’s power plays. Ilya Sorokin has given up 62 goals on 815 shots faced, and Semyon Varlamov has allowed 35 goals on 418 shots.
The Calgary Flames are averaging 3.3 goals per game and are scoring on 21.6 percent of their power play opportunities. Andrew Mangiapane leads Calgary with 23 goals, Johnny Gaudreau has 37 assists and Matthew Tkachuk has 153 shots on goal. Defensively, the Calgary Flames are allowing 2.4 goals per game and are killing 84.6 percent of their opponent’s power plays. Jacob Markstrom has allowed 74 goals on 1,013 shots faced, and Dan Vladar has allowed 25 goals on 282 shots.
The Islanders are 1-6 in their last 7 games playing on 0 days rest and 5-16 in their last 21 games as an underdog. The Flames are 5-0 in their last 5 home games and 5-0 in their last 5 overall. The under is 10-4 in Islanders last 14 overall. The over is 2-0-2 in Flames last 4 overall. The Islanders are 1-5 in the last 6 meetings.
Right when it looked like the New York Islanders were turning things around, they go ice-cold again. The Islanders don’t win on the end of back to backs, and they’ve had trouble in the underdog role as well. The Calgary Flames have the rest advantage, are at home, and they’re playing some of their best hockey as of late. The Flames and the reasonable price has to be the play here.