Edmonton vs Calgary, Game 1 | Stanley Cup Playoff Expert Analysis

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No team from Canada has won the Stanley Cup since 1993, but one will at least make the Western Conference Finals this year as the “Battle of Alberta” is renewed in Game 1 of the West semis on Wednesday as Edmonton visits Calgary, which is favored on the NHL odds.

How to Bet Oilers at Flames NHL Hockey Odds & TV Info

When: Wednesday, 9:30 PM ET
Where: Scotiabank Saddledome
TV: ESPN
Stream: ESPN app
Radio: Tunein.com
Opening NHL Lines: Flames -155, Oilers +145 (total 6)

Season Series

The teams split four meetings. They last played on March 26 in Edmonton and the Flames rolled 9-5. Matthew Tkachuk had two goals and two assists, and Johnny Gaudreau set a career high with five assists for Calgary. Elias Lindholm and Mikael Backlund also scored twice for Calgary. Chris Tanev, Oliver Kylington and Dillon Dube added a goal apiece. Leon Draisaitl had a hat trick to pace Edmonton. Derick Brassard and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins also scored for the Oilers. Jacob Markstrom made 26 saves for the Flames. Mike Smith, in relief of Mikko Koskinen, stopped 22 of the 26 shots he faced. Koskinen allowed five goals on 12 shots. The home team won all four meetings in the regular season.

Why Bet on Edmonton?

The Oilers ousted the Los Angeles Kings in Game 7 on Saturday, 2-0. Connor McDavid scored once and added an assist. McDavid set up Cody Ceci for the winner in the second period and clinched it with 3:53 left in the third as the Oilers advanced to the second round with the win. McDavid ended the series with four goals and 14 points and leads all players in the playoff scoring race. He became the fourth Oilers player to record at least 10 assists in a playoff series. The others: Wayne Gretzky, Paul Coffey and Mark Messier.

Saturday marked the sixth multi-point game of the round for the Oilers captain, matching Rick Middleton for the most in a single playoff series in NHL history. McDavid’s 14 points equal the highest total in an opening round over the past 29 years and are a number exceeded only twice in the first round in league history – once by Mario Lemieux and once by Gretzky.

It was Ceci’s first goal of these playoffs and only his second career playoff goal in 43 games, the first one coming as a Toronto Maple Leaf in 2020. It was a great series for Ceci as he has six points as well as going plus-seven. He became the fifth defenseman in franchise history to score a goal in Game 7. Ceci was the fourth defenseman in franchise history to record a series-clinching goal – only Janne Niinimaa (1998 CQF vs. COL), Reijo Ruotsalainen (1987 DF vs. WIN) and Paul Coffey (1985 SCF vs. PHI) also did it.

Mike Smith stopped all 29 shots in the win. He was 4-3 in the series with a 2.29 GAA and a .938 save percentage. Smith became the third Oilers goaltender to post a win in his first career Game 7, joining Bill Ranford (1990 DSF vs. WIN) and Grant Fuhr (1984 DF vs. CGY). He also became the first Oilers netminder to do so with a shutout performance.

Game 1 will be the first time Edmonton has been an underdog in a playoff game since 2017. In the last three seasons, the Oilers had been favored in all 15 playoff games, going 5-10 (-10.85 units).

Why Bet on Calgary?

Calgary beat Dallas in Game 7 on Sunday, 3-2 in overtime. Johnny Gaudreau scored 15:09 into overtime to give the Flames just their second playoff series win in the last 17 years. Gaudreau got the rebound of Elias Lindholm’s attempt and put a sharp-angled shot over Jake Oettinger, who made 64 saves for Dallas — a franchise record for the most stops in a Game 7. Gaudreau’s first career playoff overtime goal was assisted by fellow 100-point man Matthew Tkachuk, who notched the tying goal in the second period, and put Calgary into the Second Round for the first time since 2015.

Gaudreau became the third player in Flames history to score in overtime of a Game 7, joining Joel Otto (1989) and Martin Gelinas (2004). Coach Darryl Sutter improved to 5-0 in his past five Game 7s and claimed his eighth career Game 7 victory – the most among all head coaches and tied for the most in NHL history (including head coaches, skaters and goaltenders).

Lindholm notched an assist, three shots on goal and two blocked shots in the win. The 27-year-old Lindholm finished the first round with three goals, two assists, 18 shots on net, 10 hits, seven blocked shots and a minus-3 rating. Tyler Toffoli scored a goal on five shots. Toffoli had gone 16 games without a goal entering Sunday, and he had just four assists in that span. That drought ended 1:46 into the second period as the winger netted his first goal and second point of the postseason.

Jacob Markstrom made 26 saves and was sensational in the first round, going 4-3 with a 1.53 GAA and a .943 save percentage. As great as Markstrom was in the seven games, he was actually outplayed by Jake Oettinger in the Dallas net.

This will mark the sixth postseason edition of the “Battle of Alberta” and first in 31 years. In the last rendition during the 1991 division semifinals, the series went the distance and ended with an Esa Tikkanen overtime goal for the Oilers against Mike Vernon in Game 7 at Olympic Saddledome.