Two teams facing each other for the second time this season, the St. Louis Blues and the Chicago Blackhawks clash at the United Center in a divisional showdown. The action will get started at 8:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, October 13 and it can be watched live on NBC Sports Chicago.
St. Louis Blues at Chicago Blackhawks Odds
Chicago is 2-2 straight up (SU) and has netted moneyline bettors 0.6 units this year. That early-season winning percentage is right in line with what the team produced during last year’s regular season (33-49).
The Blackhawks have successfully converted on 6.7 percent of their power play chances thus far. That’s a big drop-off from last season, when they were ranked 28th in the league by scoring on 16.0 percent of their extra-man advantages. Their penalty kill has fallen off significantly year-over-year as they’ve gone from successfully defending 78.8 percent of opponents’ power plays (ranked 20th overall last season) to 69.2 percent this year.
As a collective unit, the Blackhawks have been penalized just 3.3 times per game this season. Last year, they posted the fifth-lowest figure in the league with 3.3 penalties per game. After serving an average of 7.5 penalty minutes per game a season ago the team’s been forced to kill penalties for 6.5 minutes per matchup this year.
Sporting a .867 save percentage and 29.3 saves per game, Cam Ward (2-2-2) has been the best goalkeeper for Chicago this year.
The Hawks will continue to look for offensive production from Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane. Toews (eight points) has put up five goals and three assists while Kane has four goals and three assists to his credit so far in the early stages of the season.
St. Louis is 1-2 straight up (SU) and has lost 1.8 units for bettors taking the moneyline thus far. A total of two of its matches have gone over the total, while none have gone under the total and one has pushed.
The Blue Notes have scored on 25.0 percent of their power play chances this year after successfully converting on 15.4 percent of their extra-man opportunities in 2017-18 (a percentage that was ranked just 30th in the NHL). The team’s gone from successfully defending 79.6 percent of opponent power plays (ranked 17th overall last season) to 90.0 percent in 2018-19.
St. Louis’ players have been penalized 3.3 times per game this season. Last year, that number was at 3.3, which was the third-lowest mark in the league. After serving an average of 7.7 penalty minutes per game a season ago the team has been forced to kill penalties for 6.7 minutes per outing this year.
Jake Allen (4.28 goals against average and .854 save percentage) has been the primary option in goal for St. Louis. Allen is averaging 25.3 saves per game and owns a 1-2-1 record.
For the visiting Blues, the offense will be coordinated by Ryan O’Reilly (zero goals, four assists) and David Perron (three goals, zero assists).
St. Louis Blues at Chicago Blackhawks Betting Predictions
Free Prediction: SU Winner – Blackhawks, O/U – Over
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Notes
Betting Trends
Chicago has yet to play in a game this season that’s been decided by two or more goals.
The total has gone over in four of Chicago’s last five games.
St. Louis skaters converted 7.5 takeaways per matchup while allowing 5.9 giveaways per game in 2017-18
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