Flames vs Oilers Odds and Picks – Best Bet for Saturday’s Battle of Alberta

• The Calgary Flames host the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday, October 15th
• The Oilers ousted the Flames in five games in the 2nd Round of the playoffs last year
• Read below for the Flames vs Oilers odds, picks and prediction

It’s a very different looking Flames team that will look for revenge on the Edmonton Oilers when the Battle of Alberta resumes on Saturday, October 15th. Puck drop is scheduled for 10:00 pm ET from Rogers Place in Edmonton. CBC will carry the broadcast for this early season tilt between the rivals.

Connor McDavid appears as hungry as ever, coming off a hat trick in the Oilers first game of the season. Edmonton are -135 moneyline favorites in the Saturday NHL odds against Calgary for this matchup as the oddsmakers favor the home side.

Let’s break down the Flames vs Oilers odds below and give you our best bet and prediction for this game.

Flames vs Oilers Odds

Odds as of October 14th at Caesars Sportsbook. Claim the Caesars Sportsbook promo code.

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As -135 moneyline favorites, the Oilers have an implied win probability of 57.45% to take the first installment of the Battle of Alberta this year. The over/under odds sit at 6.5 goals. Including their five playoff meetings, the Flames and Oilers combined to go over that total in seven of nine meetings last season.

Oilers Good Bet to Go Over Total Goals

Scoring goals is what they do, and Edmonton picked up where they left off last season in their season opener against Vancouver. They spotted the Canucks an early 2-0 lead, but came back to win 5-3, thanks in large part to Hart Trophy odds favorite and captain McDavid who had a four-point night.

Connor McDavid (@cmcdavid97) bagged up the first @Enterprise hat trick of the 2022-23 season! pic.twitter.com/6cB7Gu3PrI

— NHL (@NHL) October 13, 2022

Going back to last year’s playoffs, the Oilers have scored four or more goals in eight of their last 10 games. The forward group is as strong as it’s ever been in the McDavid era. After a run to the Western Conference Final and solid depth up front, they are considered a serious contender in the Stanley Cup odds.

One area where they know they’ll have to be better is in goal and that’s why they signed Jack Campbell to a five-year, $25 million dollar contract in the summer. The former Leafs netminder looked very shaky out of the gate, allowing two goals in the first three minutes of his Oiler debut, but settled down stopping 33 of 36 shots overall in the victory.

Calgary Flames Betting Analysis

While there wasn’t mass change to the Flames lineup in the offseason, gone are arguably the two best players from last season’s team. Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk are in Calgary no more, replaced in part by Jonathan Huberdeau, Nazem Kadri and MacKenzie Weegar.

MacKenzie Weegar’s first game as a Flame:

66.45 CF%
75.04 xGF%
72.81 SCF%
50% OZS
2 assists

An absolute stud. pic.twitter.com/MPt5cuenxn

— James Johnson 🔥 (@JamesJohnsonYYC) October 14, 2022

With the addition of Weegar on the blue line, the Flames have one of the most formidable defense corps in the league. They’ll need it to shut down Connor and company. The Oilers feasted on the Flames in their postseason series, averaging five goals a game.

Jacob Markstrom is once again expected to be a serious challenger in the Vezina Trophy odds, but he struggled mightily against the Oilers last year. The Swedish goalkeeper had a 5.12 goals against average and .852 save percentage in the five-game series.

Flames vs Oilers Projected Starting Goalies (2021-2022 Stats)

Markstrom stopped 22 of 25 shots in the Flames season-opening win against the defending Stanley Cup champion, Colorado Avalanche. If he gets the nod in goal as expected, he’ll be looking to put the images of last year’s 2nd round debacle against the Oilers behind him.

Flames vs Oilers Pick & Prediction

This rivalry is going to be an exciting one to watch throughout the season. Even with the superstar losses Calgary suffered to their lineup, they are still considered to be a serious contender to raise Lord Stanley’s mug.

When you realize the first Battle of Alberta of the season is tomorrow 😏 pic.twitter.com/qIzEyT7oWL

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) October 14, 2022

It will be interesting to see if Darryl Sutter makes a concerted effort to play defensively and put the clamps down on the high-octane Oilers. With the addition of the pesky Kadri, and Weegar raising the status of an already solid defense, the Flames just might have what it takes to slow down McDavid and Co.

Flames vs Oilers Recent Results

Not only were last season’s meetings between these two full of high-scoring affairs, but both teams also went over the total in their first regular season games this past week. Early season hockey is also usually a bit sloppy as players work themselves into shape and defensive systems aren’t too set in October.

So will we see a shutdown effort from the Flames actually contain the Oilers on Saturday night? Maybe, but until it happens, let’s bet the trends here. History dictates this will be a high-scoring contest and until these teams play games against each other to the contrary, pick the over in this one.

At odds of -135, over 6.5 goals in the Flames vs Oilers Saturday NHL odds is the prediction here.

Pick: Over 6.5 Goals (-135)