Hockey betting fans are excited to see the Calgary Flames hosting the Detroit Red Wings in what should be a very competitive matchup on Monday. The Flames are home but the NHL betting odds do not favor them since they had to play last night in Vancouver.
In hockey betting a lot can happen. For instance, the fans have seen Detroit and Calgary split their last ten meetings. This season the road team has won all three games. Calgary won 4-2 and 3-0 in Detroit while the Red Wings won 3-1 in Calgary. Normally that is not the case when hockey fans approach NHL betting. The home teams do quite well. Detroit has actually won three of the last five games at Calgary. Two of the games this season went under the hockey betting total but five of the last seven have still gone over.
Detroit has been right around the .500 mark on the road in hockey betting statistics. For most teams that would be good enough but Detroit still has a reputation as being an elite hockey team so they are not big hockey betting underdogs on the road. The Red Wings are very much in the playoff picture in the Western Conference. Detroit is 10th in the league in fewest goals allowed and for the most part goaltender Jimmy Howard has played well. The offense for Detroit has not been that great this season and that is one reason that Detroit is not considered a Stanley Cup contender. The Red Wings may make the playoffs but they do not look strong enough to contend with top teams like Chicago and San Jose.
Calgary has not played that well on home ice this season. Yes, they are above .500 but just barely. The reason Calgary is in good shape in the playoff race is their road record which has been great. Calgary simply has not won as many games at home as they should have. The Flames have been going under the hockey betting total a lot at home. In fact, Calgary at home under the total has been a bet that has done extremely well this season. Calgary wins with a defense that is 4th in the league. Their offense has struggled at times but they usually get enough production to win games, especially from leading scorer Jarome Iginla. Calgary has played very well since the Olympic break and they look ready to challenge the top teams in the Western Conference.