Are the Oilers celebrating another home gala?

Four assists in a single period – and an entry in the NHL history books. That’s how Game 3 of the Battle of Alberta went for Leon Draisaitl, because no player before him ever managed that in the NHL playoffs.

But also for Evander Kane (hat trick) and Connor McDavid (3 assists) the game went like a dream and so the Oilers now even lead the series against the favoured and hated Flames with 2:1. It’s games like this that can sometimes light a fire and carry a team tremendously far.

However, after such emotional highlights there is always the danger of dropping a few percentage points in the next game and losing outright. It wouldn’t be the first time that happened to the Oilers, see Game 4 against the Kings after their 8:2 win.

So it’s extremely difficult to make a prediction for Game 4 of the Oilers vs. Flames, as pretty much every scenario is possible. However, after a lower scoring game, things could get a little higher scoring again on Tuesday.

Edmonton Oilers – Statistics & current form

This was the Oilers’ first real announcement, and it could leave its mark. The comeback in Game 1 was already good, the 40 shots in Game 2 even better, but the second period on Sunday was champions like.

Three goals were scored by Evander Kane alone, who now leads the entire NHL in playoff goals with ten. McDavid had three assists and Leon Draisatil had four (NHL playoffs record). This forward line is currently almost unstoppable.

McDavid again in a line with Draisaitl

It’s becoming clear that the two best players McDavid and Draisaitl will be on the ice together most of the time in the playoffs. While in the regular season they were still switching and Draisaitl often led the second line, the Oilers are now going all-in.

The ice times of the two read accordingly. With over- and shorthanded play, both were on the ice well over 27 minutes, Draisatil even over 28. There is no rest for his stars now and the success also proves Head Coach Jay Woodcroft right.

Oilers also successful without powerplay

What should be most encouraging for Edmonton, however, is the fact that they don’t even need the power play to score their goals in this series. They have scored only one goal on the power play so far and have a poor record of 1 out of 15.

But this is not a disaster for the best power play team for a long time, as they have already scored 15 goals, an average of five per game. This makes a bet on over-points for Edmonton vs. Calgary on Tuesday a nice betting alternative to very difficult to assess win bets.

Key Players:
G: Mike Smith
D: Darnell Nurse
D: Cody Ceci
LW: Evander Kane
C: Connor McDavid
RW: Leon Draisaitl

Calgary Flames – Statistics & current form

The Battle of Alberta was more of an uneven battle in the second period of Game 3. The Flames were consistently a step late and also caught four goals in a span of just under twelve minutes, completely deserved.

Even if in the end the officials only blamed this second period for the defeat, this defeat goes much deeper. Thus, the Flames were outshot 33:41 overall – for the first time in this series.

Markstrom with low at worst

In addition, it is hard for the Flames that their rock, Jacob Marktstrom, is currently having his weakest period of the season. In this series he only has a save percentage of 85.3% – a clear drop from his 92.2% in the regular season.

His counterpart Smith, on the other hand, (who was considered to be much weaker before the series) again achieved a strong 97.0% on Sunday. If Markstrom can’t at least keep this duel even, then we see black for Calgary.

Flames will strike back once again

However, the 2022 Flames wouldn’t be Flames if they didn’t have another arrow in their quiver. That’s why we strongly expect them to perform very differently on Tuesday and at least produce a close game.

Whether this will be enough to win in the end is not easy to answer. But we do see them scoring at least three goals of their own, which makes odds on both Oilers vs Flames over-points and Flames over 3.0 desirable.

Key Players:
G: Jacob Marktstrom
D: Noah Hanifin
D: Rasmus Andersson
LW: Johnny Gaudreau
C: Elias Lindholm
RW: Matthew Tkachuk

Edmonton Oilers – Calgary Flames Direct Comparison / H2H-Balance

Is this going to be the Oilers’ year after all? With much of the series against the Kings already pointing to failure again, they are now just two wins away from reaching the Conference Finals for the first time since 2006.

In any case, Sunday’s home win continued their home record against their rivals. It was now their fourth straight home win over Calgary. Of the last eight games in this matchup, seven have gone to the respective home team.

So the away win in Game 3 could end up being very important. For Edmonton vs. Calgary, a tip on the home team is thus possible again for Tuesday, although we expect the Flames to be strong again, which then does not make the option our No. 1

Edmonton Oilers – Calgary Flames Tip

We expect a lot of Flames goals on Tuesday, as Oilers goalie Mike Smith rarely turns in two world-class performances in a row. However, we also expect the Oilers to score again. Thus, the focus is mainly on goal bets for Game 4.

For Oilers vs. Flames, the odds on over 6.5 are still quite decent. Our betting recommendation for Tuesday, however, is a bet on over 3 goals by Calgary. If it ends up being “only” three, we will at least get our bet back.

The alternative bet for game 3 is player betting. With the current form of Edmonton’s first forward line, bets on a scoring point are possible for McDavid as well as for Draisaitl or Kane. In the game Edmonton Oilers vs. Calgary Flames, corresponding betting odds seem quite attractive.