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The Anaheim Ducks and Vancouver Canucks. These are the only two teams in the Western Conference with more points than the Calgary Flames. Calgary has been out of the playoffs for five straight years but things are looking up in Canada's Cowtown. The Flames cleaned house in the front office midway through last season. Brad Treliving is the new GM and while he might be reaping what previous administrations have sewn the team's 'youth movement' is starting to pay off. Veteran Jonas Hiller has taken over for inconsistent Kari Ramo in net. The biggest improvement has been on offense. Calgary was the #23 scoring offense in hockey last year but they currently rank #6. Their power play has improved from #24 to #12. The defense has improved as well though it can be better than middle of the pack'. I could spend the next hour writing about Calgary's profusion of young talent including team captain Mark Giordano (current NHL 'player of the week') and highly touted Johnny Gaudreau (aka 'Johnny Hockey') who won the 2014 Hobey Baker Award at Boston College.
No clue what is going on with Carolina. They should be better when sparkplug Jordan Staal comes back from a broken leg but beyond that they're a mystery. They lost their first six games but have since won four of five. Streaky goalie Cam Ward has been playing well giving up an average of 1.75 goals in the four 'canes wins. Carolina is still #24 in goals scored and #25 in goals against. They deserve credit for a nice win over Los Angeles at home but their other wins are against Arizona and injury depleted Columbus twice. Their upswing could merely be a function of scheduling.
Playing West vs. East is more often than not a good strategy. It sure looks like it here--Calgary is a substantially better team who have road wins in Chicago, Nashville, Montreal and Washington. They're 7-2-0 on the road this season and are a nice value at +100.
•Play Philadelphia -7 over Carolina---RISK 25% OF YOUR BANKROLL
8:30 PM EST
Philadelphia has won 90 of the last 123 games when playing as a favorite of 3.5 to 9.5 points and they have won 85 of the last 131 games after having won two of the last three games. Philadelphia has won 58 of the last 121 games after gaining 400 or more total yards in their last game and they are averaging 33 points on offense in home games this season.
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