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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.
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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)
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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.
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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.
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For more sports betting picks and tips, check out SportsbookWire.com and BetFTW.
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