Edmonton Oilers vs Calgary Flames NHL Picks, Odds, Predictions 10/16/2021

The Calgary Flames and the Edmonton Oilers meet in a battle of Alberta in NHL action from Rexall Place on Saturday night.

The Calgary Flames come into the 2021-22 season looking to shake off a disappointing season in which the Flames went 26-27-3 and missed out on the postseason for the 3^rd straight season. It will be a new era in Calgary with captain Mark Giordano gone to the Seattle Kraken in the expansion draft but the Flames did their best to fill the void by acquiring Tyler Pitlick from the Kraken as well as signing Blake Coleman to a 6-year deal, as well as Brad Richardson and Erik Gudbranson to one-year contracts. Jacob Markstrom will be tasked with stopping the pucks for the Flames this year after going 22-19-2 with a 2.68 GAA and .904 save percentage last season.

The Edmonton Oilers will be out to build off of a 3-2 win in a shootout over Vancouver to start their season. Jesse Puljujarvi opened the scoring for the Oilers with the lone goal of the opening period and Zach Hyman pushed the lead to 2-0 with the only goal of the middle frame. Edmonton loked to be getting closer to the finish line, but a pair of 3^rd period goals 4:43 apart from Vancouver tied this game up and sent us to extra hockey. The OT period solved nothing, so it was off to the shootout where Kyle Turris potted the winner in round 5 to give the extra point to the Oilers. Mike Smith got the win after stopping 36 of 38 shots faced in the win as well as 4 of 5 shots faced in the shootout.

Calgary is 4-1 in their last 5 games overall and 1-4 in their last 5 games against the Western Conference while the under is 5-0 in their last 5 games against a team with a winning record. Edmonton is 1-5 in their last 6 games overall and 2-5 in their last 7 division games while the under is 4-0 in their last 4 games as a home favorite.

The Flames and Oilers have had their cracks at each other recently and early last year, this rivalry was more about hurting each other on the scoreboard. But lately, it’s played out like a true rivalry, with lots of physical play and tight defense. I think we see more of the same here, Give me the under.