The Calgary Flames will look to snap their eight-game road losing streak Tuesday night when they visit the Nashville Predators. The Flames are also in the midst of a franchise-record 25-game streak of scoring less than four goals.

While the Flames have struggled to produce offence, they are still generating more goals per game than the Predators, who rank last with 2.18 goals per game this season. At 7-15-6, the Predators occupy last place in the NHL standings after entering the year with a season point total of 99.5 points.

I’ll detail the relevant game notes, as well as outline my favourite betting angle below.

Considering the talent disparity between the two rosters, the Flames put forth a highly respectable effort in their last matchup versus the Dallas Stars, and coach Ryan Huska was not critical of his teams work-rate. They hung around for two periods, but ultimately a superior Stars side was able to pull away late in the third after some miscues in Calgary’s defensive zone.

The Stars held a 28-25 edge in scoring chances in that match-up, but the Flames did out-shoot the Stars 31-28.

During their 25-game streak of scoring four goals or less, the Flames have averaged 28.62 shots on goal per 60, but shot just 7.4%. There is a lack of elite finishing threats on the Flames roster, which is surely part of the problem. Still, the Flames might benefit from looking off some borderline lower-quality shots in favour of attempting more passes through the middle of the ice in the offensive zone to help force more east-west movement for opposing goaltenders.

Whether we see the Flames change their offensive philosophy to some extent in the remaining two-thirds of the season or not, they likely will still see their shooting percentage trend upwards. Last season, the Flames shot 9.9% with a similar core, and the Blackhawks finished with the lowest shooting percentage at 8.46.

While the Flames roster lacks offensive upside relative contenders, it’s not a unit anybody projected to finish chances at historically low rate.

Dan Vladar is expected to get the start Tuesday. He holds a .900 save % and 2.74 GAA in 14 games played this season.

Things seem to be reaching a breaking point in Nashville, as after entering the year with high expectations, the Predators sit last in the league a third of the way into the campaign.

The Predators scored just five goals during their recent road trip, and earned just one point in four matchups. They will surely view this as a must-win versus another team currently outside of the playoff picture, but that certainly doesn’t mean their recent flaws won’t persist.

Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault have both greatly underperformed expectations this season, which leaves the Predators with a very thin offensive core. While they both could find slightly better form moving forward than we have seen thus far, neither was overly strong last season, and many sharp observers were making the case that those signings may work out as GM Barry Trotz expected.

Over the last 20 games, the Predators have generated just 2.93 xGF/60, which ranks 20th in the league. While that mark is greater than Calgary’s in that span, Nashville is allowing far more chances against. The Predators have allowed 3.23 xGA/60 and 30.05 shots against per 60 over the last 20 games.

Nashville has been extremely overvalued in the betting market this season, and that looks to be the case once again in this match-up. The Predators will surely be desperate to take this winnable matchup and snap their ugly seven-game losing streak, but beyond the ‘desperation’ angle, it’s tough to make a case for the Predators being deserving of a -180 price tag.

The Preds have been one of just three teams to score fewer goals per game this season than the Flames, and have been considerably worse defensively. Their big-name acquisitions have all struggled this season, but the perceived strength of the roster continues to have oddsmakers banking on a potential turnaround.

It may prove difficult for the Flames’ lowly offence to generate much against Saros, but this match-up still looks to be more of a coin-flip than the betting numbers indicate.

It’s fair to say the Predators deserve to be somewhat of a favourite, but these numbers look extreme to me. At +145 or better, I see value backing the Flames to steal a win on the road in this match-up.