Seattle Kraken vs Calgary Flames Prediction: Best Bet for Friday

Seattle scores 3.69 goals per game, the most on Friday's slate, and Calgary allows 3.75, the most on the slate, yet the Flames have won four of their last five and are 4-3-0 at home. Friday asks whether Calgary's home form and power play can hold off the matchup working against them for sixty minutes.

The Matchup

Seattle and Calgary sit close in the standings and nowhere else. The Kraken are 8-4-1 with a plus-0.15 differential, and Calgary is 5-7-0 at minus-1.42, the worst differential on Friday's slate. Seattle scores 3.69 goals per game, the most on the slate, and allows 3.54, so Kraken games are track meets by design.

Calgary scores 2.33 per game, tied for the fewest on the slate, and allows 3.75, the most on the slate, a combination that turns every night into an uphill skate. Chandler Stephenson leads Seattle with 11 points and 9 assists, and Frederick Gaudreau has 6 goals, and the Kraken are doing it without Jared McCann, who is out on injured reserve with a lower-body injury.

Calgary's attack runs through Joel Farabee, who has 11 points and 8 assists, while Matvei Gridin leads the Flames with just 4 goals, and Jonathan Huberdeau is out on injured reserve after hip surgery. Calgary's counter is place and timing: the Flames are 4-3-0 at the Saddledome and have won four of their last five games, while Seattle is 4-2-1 on the road.

Key Factors

Calgary's one real weapon is its power play, and it is a good one. The Flames convert 29.0 percent of their chances, the best mark on Friday's slate, and Seattle kills just 67.6 percent of its penalties, tied for the weakest mark on the slate, so Kraken discipline decides whether Calgary's thin even-strength offense gets the help it needs.

Seattle's own power play, at 22.7 percent, runs into a Calgary kill at 83.8 percent, which means the special-teams battle tilts toward the home team in both directions and stands as the honest case for Calgary. The crease is where that case can collapse. Devin Cooley is day-to-day with a lower-body injury for Calgary. Keep an eye on whether Cooley plays before placing a bet.

Cooley has been excellent at 2.69 goals against and a .914 save percentage, and the alternative is Dustin Wolf at 4.81 and .839, a drop-off no home edge survives against a team scoring 3.69 per game. Philipp Grubauer gives Seattle a steady 2.93 goals against at the other end, and Seattle wins 51.3 percent of faceoffs to Calgary's 49.2, a small edge that grows late in games Calgary is chasing.

Every pick is published with its line before the game. Odds via consensus sportsbooks at time of writing and move constantly. Must be 21+. If gambling is a problem, call or text 1-800-GAMBLER.