The United Center will be hosting a Western Conference matchup as the Chicago Blackhawks prepare to face the visiting Arizona Coyotes. NBC Sports Chicago will broadcast the matchup, which gets underway at 8:30 p.m. ET on Thursday, October 18.
Arizona Coyotes at Chicago Blackhawks Odds
Arizona (+125) is entering this one as the underdog to Chicago (-145) and the oddsmakers have set the Over/Under (O/U) at 6 goals. The line for betting that total stands at -105 money on the over and -115 for the under.
Netting 1.6 units for moneyline bettors, the Blackhawks are 3-2 straight up (SU) overall thus far. That winning percentage, ranked 2nd in the Central Division in this young season, is a welcome improvement over the 33-49 record from last year’s regular season campaign. Of its five games this season, five have gone over the total, while zero have gone under and none have pushed. The team is 1-1 SU at home thus far.
Chicago has successfully converted on 11.1 percent of its power play chances thus far. That’s a big drop-off from last season, when the team was ranked 28th in the league by scoring on 16.0 percent of its extra-man advantages. Its penalty kill has fallen off noticeably year-over-year as it has gone from successfully defending 78.8 percent of opponents’ power plays (ranked 20th overall last season) to 64.7 percent this year.
Chicago, as a collective unit, has been penalized 3.4 times per game this season. Last year, that number was at 3.3, the fifth-best figure in the league. After serving an average of 7.5 penalty minutes per game a season ago the team’s had to kill penalties for 6.8 minutes per outing this year.
Averaging 30.4 saves per game with a .879 save percentage, Cam Ward (3-2-2) has been the primary goalkeeper for the Blackhawks this year.
Alex DeBrincat and Jonathan Toews will both be focal points for the Blackhawks. DeBrincat (nine points) has tallied six goals and three assists while Toews has five goals and four assists to his credit so far in the early stages of the season.
Arizona is 1-4 straight up (SU) and has lost 3.3 units for moneyline bettors this year. A total of four of its contests have gone under the total, while none have gone over and one has pushed. Arizona’s 1-2 SU as the visiting team this season.
Arizona’s scored on 13.3 percent of its power play chances this year after converting on 16.3 percent of its extra-man opportunities last season (a mark that was ranked just 27th in the NHL). The team’s gone from successfully defending 79.4 percent of opponent power plays (ranked 18th overall last season) to 91.7 percent this year.
Arizona’s skaters have been penalized 3.2 times per game this season. Last year, that number was at 3.3, which was the fifth-lowest mark in the league. After serving an average of 7.8 penalty minutes per game a year ago, the team’s had to kill penalties for 6.4 minutes per outing this season.
Antti Raanta (21.0 saves per game) has been the primary option in the net for Arizona. Raanta owns a 1-3 record, while registering a .903 save percentage and 2.22 goals against average this year.
For the visiting Coyotes, the offense will be facilitated through Clayton Keller (zero goals, one assist) and Brad Richardson (one goal, zero assists).
Arizona Coyotes at Chicago Blackhawks Free Picks
Pick: SU Winner – Blackhawks, O/U – Over
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Notes
Betting Trends
The total has gone over in each of Chicago’s last five games.
Arizona has managed 33.7 shot attempts per game over its last five road games while Chicago is averaging 40.5 shots per game over its last five home outings.
The Coyotes are 0-2 when they serve fewer penalty minutes than their opponent and 1-4 in games where they’re in the penalty box for fewer than 10 total minutes.
After posting a 2-5 record in games decided by a shootout last year, Arizona is off to a 1-0 start in shootouts this season. Chicago went 1-2 in shootouts last year and has yet to participate in one this time around.
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