Hurricanes-Flames Betting Preview: Bill Peters Welcomes His Former Team to Calgary
James Carey Laudler, USA Today Sports. Pictured: Bill Peters
Betting odds: Carolina Hurricanes at Calgary Flames
- Hurricanes moneyline: +155
- Flames moneyline: -180
- Over/Under: 6.5
- Puck drop: 9 p.m. ET
NHL record: 33-35, +10.52 units
>> All odds as of Monday night. Download The Action Network App to get real-time NHL odds and track your bets
The Carolina Hurricanes have started come on a bit lately. The Canes have won seven of their last 10 games and are still on the fringe of the playoff picture in the Eastern Conference.
Carolina remains one of the league's most confounding teams. The Hurricanes are very talented and their underlying numbers look great, but they are still having trouble establishing themselves as a threat to crash their way into the playoff picture.
This has been the story with Carolina for half a decade. This season at least has been different in that the Hurricanes have a new coach, Rod Brind'amour, who took over for Bill Peters after four seasons.
Peters now coaches the Calgary Flames, who had a very Hurricane-like season in 2017-18. The main difference is that the Flames are tasting that sweet, sweet regression that Carolina has been promised for years.
Calgary is flying high at the moment, going 18-4-3 in its last 25 games and 8-1-1 in its last 10. The Flames currently occupy the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference and have the second-best goal differential in the NHL.
Peters has this team humming and, for the first time in his coaching career, he's benefiting from great goaltending and a high shooting percentage.
David Rittch has been a revelation in goal, saving the Flames from having to trot out what's left of Mike Smith on a nightly basis. Rittich ranks second in the NHL with a +9.73 Goals Saved Above Average and his .936 save percentage at 5v5 ranks eighth.
This is Rittich's first real go-round as an NHL starter and goaltending is fickle, so it's anybody's guess whether "Big Save Dave" will maintain this superlative level.
The Flames rank in the top 10 in shooting percentage over the season and over their last 10 games are shooting 10.5% at 5v5.
On the other end of the spectrum are the Hurricanes, who despite having the highest expected shooting percentage at 5v5 (per Corsica) have the second-lowest shooting percentage at 5v5.
The difference between their xSH% and SH% is 2.05 basis points, the worst mark in the NHL. The second-worst mark? The Boston Bruins, who are underperforming by 0.7 basis points. Mind-boggling stuff.
Carolina has been a real headache to bet on for years, but it's hard to pass up this number. The market currently thinks very highly of the Flames, so I'm taking the value on the Canes (and would play them at +150 or above) and praying they don't do what they usually do and ruin a good bet.
The Bet: Carolina Hurricanes +155
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