The Edmonton Oilers and the Calgary Flames meet in game five of their best of seven playoff series in NHL action from Scotiabank Saddledome on Thursday night.
The Edmonton Oilers will look to close out the series after their 5-3 win over Calgary in game four to take a 3-1 series lead. Connor McDavid leads the Oilers in scoring with 25 points including 6 goals and a team-high 19 assists while Leon Draisaitl has 22 points split between 7 goals and 15 assists. Evander Kane has 15 points with 12 goals of his own while Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has 10 points with 4 goals and 6 assists. Zach Hyman’s also got 9 points with 7 goals and Evan Bouchard and Cody Ceci each have 7 points with a combined 11 assists this postseason. Mike Smith’s gone 7-3 so far in the postseason, with a .931 save percentage and a 2.50 GAA this postseason.
The Calgary Flames will try to fight for one more game after their loss to the Oilers last time out. Johnny Gaudreau leads the Flames in scoring with 13 points including a team-high 11 assists while Matthew Tkachuk has 10 points with 4 goals and 6 assists and Elias Lindholm has 9 points with 5 goals and 4 assists. Jacob Markstrom has gone 5-6 with a .906 save percentage and a 2.78 GAA this postseason.
Edmonton is 5-1 in their last 6 games against a team with a winning record and 28-9 in their lat 37 division games while the over is 7-2 in their last 9 conference semifinal games. Calgary is 1-6 in their last 7 games against a team with a winning percentage above .600 and 35-16 in their lat 51 games as a favorite while the over is 4-1-1 in their last 6 games overall.
I get the case that could be made for the Flames at home, but I’m not laying juice with a Calgary team, even at home, that’s yet to make the necessary adjustments to slow down the Oilers. Connor McDavid looks like a man possessed and Evander Kane’s thriving with the Oilers in the postseason. I think the Flames are going to get sent packing here, so give me Edmonton and the plus money.