[gambcom-standard rankid=”4141″ ]
The Calgary Flames meet the Vancouver Canucks Wednesday in the 2024-25 season opener at Rogers Arena. Puck drop is scheduled for 10 p.m. ET (ESPN+). Let’s analyze BetMGM Sportsbook’s NHL odds around the Flames vs. Canucks odds and make our expert NHL picks and predictions.
Season series: First meeting; Canucks won season series 3-1 in 2023-24
The Flames didn’t make a lot of noise in the offseason after missing the playoffs. Calgary amassed just 81 points, and it ended up trading G Jacob Markstrom to the New Jersey Devils, electing to go with a rebuild. It will use a combination of Gs Dan Vladar and Dustin Wolf.
The Canucks made a splash in the free-agent market, bringing in F Jake DeBrusk, formerly of the Boston Bruins, while adding blueline help with Ds Vincent Desharnais and Derek Forbert.
G Thatcher Demko is still not ready to return from a knee injury quite yet, but the Canucks should be in capable hands with playoff hero Arturs Silovs holding down the fort.
Stream the NHL all season on ESPN+, with your team’s out-of-market games, exclusive games, originals and more. Get ESPN+ now!
Flames at Canucks odds
Provided by BetMGM Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list of NHL odds. Lines last updated at 5:34 a.m. ET.
- Moneyline (ML): Flames +170 (bet $100 to win $170) | Canucks -210 (bet $210 to win $100)
- Puck line (PL)/Against the spread (ATS): Flames +1.5 (-145) | Canucks -1.5 (+120)
- Over/Under (O/U): 6 (O: -115 | U: -105)
[gambcom-standard rankid=”4132″ ]
Flames at Canucks projected goalies
Dustin Wolf (7-7-1, 3.16 GAA, .893 SV% in 2023-24) vs. Arturs Silovs (3-0-1, 2.47 GAA, .881 SV% in 2023-24)
Wolf won his final 4 starts down the stretch last season, although he was helped out by the fact the offense averaged 5.7 goals per game in his final 3 outings. Still, it was impressive nonetheless. Wolf has never faced the Canucks.
Silovs stepped in during the postseason with injuries to both Demko and Casey DeSmith. Now, Silovs gets a chance to start the season atop the depth chart, with journeyman Kevin Lankinen as his backup.
Play our free daily Pick’em Challenge and win! Play now!
Flames at Canucks picks and predictions
Prediction
Canucks 4, Flames 2
Moneyline
The Canucks (-210) will cost you more than 2 times your potential return, and that’s way too risky for not much reward. That’s a poor betting strategy anytime, but especially in the opening game when we just don’t have a lot of information on either side just yet.
PASS, and look to the puck line instead, or consider a 3-way ML play with CANUCKS (-130) for a regular time win.
Puck line/Against the spread
The CANUCKS -1.5 (+120) are a solid value on the puck line at plus-money.
Last season, Vancouver covered both home games on the puck line against the Flames +1.5 (-145), outscoring Calgary 8-3. While 5 of the past 8 meetings in this series have been decided by a single goal, the distance between these 2 teams in terms of talent has grown significantly in the past year.
Over/Under
The total 6 is likely to come down right on the number. We saw an Under total in the most recent game April 16, and a push on a total of 6 goals on March 23 in Vancouver.
In the past 5 meetings, these 2 teams have combined to average exactly 6.0 goals per game, too.
AVOID.
[gambcom-standard rankid=”6305″ ]
For more sports betting picks and tips, check out SportsbookWire.com and BetFTW.
Follow Kevin J. Erickson on Twitter/X. Follow SportsbookWire on Twitter/X and like us on Facebook.
[lawrence-newsletter]
[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1369]