This Week in Canada NHL for April 4

Last week was a telling week for the Canadian NHL teams. The team that was hurt the most had to be the Vancouver Canucks. They lost three straight games last week and, worse, caused bettors to lose money on a nightly basis.

The Canucks were favored in one home game against the St. Louis Blues. They lost that contest by a score of 4-3. At least, the Over hit.

Vancouver followed that up by dropping another tough game to the Vegas Golden Knights. That game closed right around even at 1.9 on the moneyline. The problem was the first two Vegas shots got past Thatcher Demko.

Naturally, Vancouver battled back and forced overtime behind goals from J.T. Miller and Bo Horvat. The Canucks could not seal the deal as Shea Theodore struck in overtime to take away Vancouver’s house money on Sunday night. The loss dropped Vancouver to eight points out of the second wildcard spot in the West.

Vancouver faces an uphill road with 12 games left in the regular season. The Canucks have seven games at home, including a five-game homestand. Vancouver has five games on the road with back-to-back contests in Vegas and Arizona this week.

This schedule is not easy with two instances of playing three games in four nights. They play Vegas twice, Minnesota, Calgary, Los Angeles, Edmonton, and Dallas.

The good news is that a winning streak puts Vancouver right back into the race. The bad news is that Vancouver has won just three times in their previous 12 games. That feel-good aspect of the early winning streak when Bruce Boudreau took over is over.

Finally, eight points is a large gap this time of year. Consistent offense and below-average special teams (punctuated by a 31st ranked penalty kill have placed Vancouver in this hole. Can the Vancouver Canucks find a way to sneak into the playoffs? They have to hop over Winnipeg, Dallas, and Vegas. That’s a tall order for any team, to be honest.

Looking Ahead for Canadian Teams

The Calgary Flames are looking to get back on track after a tough week that saw them lose three straight games.

They lost three contests at home. To be fair, those games were against St. Louis, Los Angeles, and Colorado. Those are far from lightweight teams by any means.

However, Calgary was favored in all three. It did get a bit of a gut punch when it was revealed that Sean Monahan would be out long-term with a hip injury.

Now, the Flames set out on the road for four games this week, including their “California trip”. This may be the best thing for a team that needs to hold off Los Angeles and Edmonton to win the Pacific Division. It expects to be an influential week in that race.

This week does not include a couple of rivalry games among the Canadian teams as Tuesday does have a meeting between the Montreal Canadiens and Ottawa Senators.

Ottawa also faces the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday which is better known as the “Battle Of Ontario”. A big night for Ontario sports betting.

Throw the records out the window when those two teams face each other. Toronto faces Florida then Dallas before that.

Winnipeg is one of those in-between teams right now. It still has a shot at the playoffs, even though it is six points out with 12 games left.

Dropping consecutive games last week has them in a must-win mode. Can Kyle Connor return healthy from COVID may be their biggest question as this schedule ramps up?

The Jets have been a .500 team since Paul Maurice walked away and retired. Teams in front of them have games in hand (two) which does not help. Their numbers to make the playoffs have tilted into the negative realm.

Lastly, do not forget there is more than just Montreal and Toronto to close out the week on Saturday night. Sunday night sneaks in a battle between the Winnipeg Jets and Ottawa Senators.

Ottawa can be a pesky team to play against. It expects to be a game that could warrant a look at the Senators’ moneyline. Ottawa is one of those teams that could close well as we close another week in the NHL.