Quinn Hughes isn't shy about shooting the puck, and he'll happily fire away against Calgary.
NHL
The Calgary Flames picked up a 4-3 shootout win over the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday, and they’ll look to pick up a second consecutive road win by topping the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena on Thursday, October 9.
My Flames vs. Canucks predictions and NHL picks expect a low-scoring contest, with Vancouver captain Quinn Hughes showing why he’s a contender for the Norris Trophy in the home opener.
Flames vs Canucks Best bet: Quinn Hughes Over 2.5 shots on goal (-115)
Vancouver Canucks defenseman Quinn Hughes recorded seven shots and 20 attempts across three preseason games after finishing 13th and seventh in per 60-minute rates, respectively, among defensemen last season. He’s also in the 97th percentile for shots on goal among defensemen.
Just as important, Hughes averaged the second-most ice time per game with a monster 25:43 per night while also tilting the ice in his favor with a 55.7 Corsi For percentage and ranking in the 99th percentile of defensemen in offensive zone time.
The Calgary Flames are playing the second leg of a back-to-back road set and were caved in by the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday night. Edmonton finished with 35 shots and won the 5-on-5 shot share at 62.9%.
I also value Oil No. 1 defenseman Evan Bouchard finishing with five shots on 10 attempts.
Hughes doesn’t shoot as often as Bouchard, but the Vancouver captain is the quarterback of the No. 1 power-play unit, and he’s also going to log huge minutes in an offensively tilted role.
Calgary only generated 0.97 expected goals at 5-on-5 in its season opener against Edmonton, so I’m not expecting the offensive floodgates to open for the Flames tonight.
The Canucks also ranked 22nd in goals per game and 27th in expected goals per 60 minutes at 5-on-5, so I’m not anticipating Vancouver filling up the net, either.
Turning to Vancouver winger Brock Boeser, he’s set for top-line duty alongside center Elias Pettersson and winger Jake DeBrusk. I’m expecting a rebound in Boeser’s shot volume this season, too.
He finished with two or more shots in 41 of 75 games last year, but his 6.39 shots and 14.14 attempts per 60 minutes were well below his respective 8.44 and 16.12 marks from the prior three campaigns.
The Vancouver Canucks have hit the Under in 15 of their last 19 games at home (+10.45 Units / 49% ROI). Find more NHL betting trends for Flames vs. Canucks.
Odds are correct at the time of publishing and are subject to change.
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Neil Parker is, first and foremost, a sports fan. A huge supporter of the Cowboys, Cubs, and Maple Leafs, he has managed to parlay his passion into writing gigs at some of the top websites in the industry.
Neil takes a numbers-based approach to his handicapping and complements his in-depth statistical analysis with a keen eye on the markets to provide the best available odds. He loves to lean on his rolodex of idioms to offset his inner nerd. When it comes to wagering, he throws down on anything that catches his eye at bet365, Betway and BetVictor. He also keeps a close eye on CoolBet because the polar bear brand often has outlier NHL and NFL moneyline prices.
Neil graduated with honors from St. Thomas University in 2007 before completing his BEd at Acadia University in 2010. After teaching a myriad of courses and subjects, he found a groove delivering fun lessons to exceptional learners in non-traditional classroom environments. If his decade-plus teaching run taught him anything about sports betting, it’s to stay the course and use the summer – or offseason – to refresh and prepare to be better in the year to come.
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