Home Woes
The Calgary Flames made history on their most recent road trip. Winning at home, however, has proven more difficult.
The Flames look to improve their fortunes on their own ice Sunday when they face the Atlantic Division-leading New Jersey Devils.
Oddsmakers from SBG Global have made Calgary -134 money line favorites (NHL Odds) for today’s game, the over/under has been set at 6 goals (Matchup). Current public betting information shows that 94% of bets for this game have been placed on Calgary -134 View NHL Bet Percentages).
Calgary (17-13-6) fell to 7-7-5 at home with a 3-2 overtime loss to Dallas on Friday. The 12 total home losses are already one more than the Flames had all of last season, when they led the NHL with a 30-9-2 home record.
They have also dropped five of their last six at home, while failing to score more than three goals in any of those games. On the plus side, they have earned a point in each of their last four home games – a win, a shootout loss and two overtime defeats.
Matthew Lombardi and Alex Tanguay scored Friday for Calgary, which returned home after becoming just the fourth team in NHL history to win every game of a six-game trip.
"We had opportunities, a lot of them," Lombardi said after losing to the Stars. "We came out a little flat but we picked our game and did some good things but we didn’t capitalize while they took care of their chances."
Calgary’s Jarome Iginla failed to earn a point, ending a five-game goal-scoring streak in which he had scored eight times. Iginla leads the Flames with 24 goals and 25 assists.
The Flames have won three of their last four meetings with the Devils (19-13-3), but have not faced them since a 4-1 victory at New Jersey on Dec. 7, 2005. Calgary has not hosted the Devils since a 5-4 win on March 5, 2003.
The Devils are looking to wrap up a three-game swing through western Canada with a winning record. They lost 5-0 in Vancouver on Tuesday, but scored twice in the third period to give them a 3-1 victory Friday in Edmonton.
"We went five periods without scoring a goal and then things happened pretty quickly there," New Jersey coach Brent Sutter said. "We were playing more the way we wanted to play."
Patrik Elias and Brian Gionta scored in a 35-second span to lift the Devils, and John Madden added an empty-net goal. However, Zach Parise, who leads the team with 15 goals and 20 assists, failed to record a point for the second straight game.
"There is a real fine line between winning and losing," Madden said. "We had some good chances in Vancouver and didn’t get any breaks. Tonight we capitalized on some of our chances and they missed on some of theirs."
Martin Brodeur made 20 saves after allowing all five goals three nights earlier. The Devils own the second-most points in the Eastern Conference.
"It was a pivotal game," Gionta said. "It turned our trip around and now we have a chance to go home 2-1 on this road trip. Being down for so long in that game, it was huge to get that first one and then be able to chip in to close it out."
by: Staff Writers – Email Us
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