NHL Predictions: Nov. 3 with Edmonton Oilers vs. Calgary Flames

Welcome to the return of NHL Predictions. Each day, Last Word on Hockey takes a look at the games that are happening and gives our predictions for each one, breaking down head-to-head matchups and other factors that may play in. Today we’re looking at the Edmonton Oilers vs Calgary Flames. Be sure to check out more NHL predictions every day there’s hockey this season.

NHL Predictions Edmonton Oilers (5-5-1) vs Calgary Flames (6-4-1)

Time: 8:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST)

TV: Sportsnet, ESPN+

2024-2025 Head-to-head (Flames lead series 1-0)

Calgary and Edmonton played the first edition of the Battle of Alberta in Edmonton on October 13th. At the time, the Flames were 2-0 to the shock of many. On the other hand, the Oilers were off to an 0-2 start including a blowout loss at home to open the season. The expectation heading into the first matchup was that the Stanley Cup favourite Oilers would overpower the rebuilding Flames and get back on track early in the new season. However, the Flames brought a strong effort and outlasted the favoured Oilers, winning 4-1. Let’s take a look at how these two teams stack up heading into round two of the Battle of Alberta.

Oilers Look to Stay Afloat Without McDavid

The biggest news heading into this game for the Oilers is that they will be without the best player in the world, Connor McDavid. The Oilers season got off to a rough start on all accounts. They unexpectedly struggled to score to start the season and were giving up plenty on the other end. The Oilers, however, have won three of their last four games and look to be trending in the right direction. Edmonton should still have enough skill to score goals without McDavid if Leon Draisaitl can get back into his all-star form. In contrast, the Oilers will need more out of offseason signings Viktor Arvidsson and Jeff Skinner, and veterans Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Zach Hyman who have gotten off to slow starts.

The bigger concern for Edmonton is their suspect backend and goaltending. Without McDavid, it will be even harder for the Oilers to outscore their defensive problems. Stuart Skinner is off to a bit of a shaky start and hasn’t looked nearly as good as the goalie who helped lead the Oilers to the Stanley Cup Final. There are also rumblings the Oilers are searching for a defenceman to help improve their blueline. However, for the time being, Edmonton is going to need everyone on this team to step up the effort on team defence until reinforcements arrive.

Calgary Flames to Get back to Their Identity

During the Flames best start in franchise history one thing was clear, when the Flames brought their best effort, this team was better than we expected. The issue for the Flames will always be their lack of top-end talent and their inexperienced defence and goalies. One of the biggest surprises to the season for the Flames has been their goaltending. The Flames have a tandem of a career backup without a ton of experience in Daniel Vladar and a rookie in Dustin Wolf. To start the season both goaltenders have a save percentage above .900 and have been a big key to the Flames’ success. If this continues, the Flames could find themselves competing for a playoff spot this season.

The Flames play has fallen off lately after their great start. The team suffered two bad losses to Vegas and Utah just last week. During those two games, the most noticeable issues were effort and mistakes. The young Flames were taking bad penalties in the offensive zone, turning over pucks, and losing defensive assignments. At the same time, certain players seem unnoticeable. The result was the Flames being heavily outplayed all over the ice. This team doesn’t have the talent to get away without having everybody putting forth their best effort. The Flames will need to get back to playing physical, hard-nosed hockey to compete nightly.

NHL Predictions

Calgary is coming off a great performance at home against New Jersey and should come with a solid effort against their provincial rivals. The Oilers look to be heading in the right direction in their last couple of games, and even without superstar Connor McDavid, they should have enough firepower to compete against the Flames. Expect the Oilers to outlast Calgary and find a way to score at the right time in a hard-fought matchup.

Prediction: Oilers win 4-3

Prop Bets of the Night

BET365 has the over/under on this matchup at 6, which has us leaning towards the over at +183. On the Flames side, look for Yegor Sharangovich to pick up a point as he continues to get going after coming back from injury. BET 365 has him at +190 to pick up over 0.5 points. On the Oilers side, we like taking a chance on Zach Hyman +255 for an anytime goal.

Main Photo Credit: Perry Nelson – USA TODAY Sports

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