Calgary flames
Calgary often loses points and cannot fully commit to the fight for the right to participate in the Stanley Cup. Now the “lights” are in 10th place and alternate victories with defeats. Darryl Sutter’s Wards take on Dallas, Minnesota and Ottawa while losing ground to weaker opponents against Anaheim and Arizona. There are no major defeats this month, but the visitors are no longer able to compete with the conference leader.
Vegas Golden Knights
Vegas still leads the West table and had a very successful away series. After starting with Florida (1-2), the Knights defeated Tampa (4-3 overtime), Carolina (4-0), St. Louis (5:3) and Philadelphia (5:3). The team’s infirmary has two main bouncers plus Stone and Carrier, but Bruce Cassidy has enough resources to take the losses without losing his own performances.
Forecast
For a home win against Calgary No. 10, the bookmakers are offering odds of 2+ – even higher than the penultimate in East Philadelphia (1.9) in the previous guest fixture, apparently expecting a misfire from the conference leader due to goaltender injuries. But in each victorious match of the away series, the “knights” did not fail and even issued a shutout with Carolina. What can we say about the current “lights” that can’t handle outsiders and are unlikely to beat Vegas, but a safety net can’t hurt. Time passes, regular seasons end and start, but one thing remains the same – Calgary has never beaten Cassidy’s team at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas in regular time, only once has the game gone to overtime.