The NHL continues to roll following the All-Star break with a small four game slate tonight. There’s not a lot of great matchups but I’ll breakdown Chicago vs Winnipeg and offer some other plays.
Chicago Blackhawks @ Winnipeg Jets
- Time: 9:00 PM ET
- TV Coverage: ESPN +
- Chicago Blackhawks: 17-24-7, 7th Central (9-13-4 Away)
- Winnipeg Jets: 20-17-8, 6th Central (11-8-1 Home)
| Team | Opening ML | Current ML | Spread | Total |
| Chicago Blackhawks | +140 | +145 | +1.5 (-170) | o5.5 (-120) |
| Winnipeg Jets | -175 | -165 | -1.5 (+150) | u5.5 (+100) |
Trends:
- Chicago are 2-8 SU in their last 10 games
- Chicago are 4-8 SU in their last 10 games on the road
- Winnipeg are 3-8 SU in their last 11 games
- The total has gone OVER in 8 of Winnipeg’s last 9 games at home
Preview:
This will be the second meeting between these two teams this year. The Jets defeated the Blackhawks 5-1 at home on November 5, 2021. Winnipeg closed as a -145 favorite in that game, with the Total being set at 6.0 (-115/-105).
Chicago Blackhawks
The Blackhawks are coming off a 5-1 loss against the St. Louis Blues on the road. Chicago has struggled this season across the board. They don’t have a great offense, their defensive is also very bad, and Marc Andre-Fleury is playing much worse than last year. The Blackhawks are ending their three game road trip tonight against St. Louis where they’ve split the first two games, losing to the Blues in their last game as previously mentioned and defeating the Oilers 4-1 on Wednesday.
Chicago ranks 30th in the NHL in terms of Goals For Per Game with an average of 2.38. In their last 10, they’ve been slightly better offensively averaging 2.40. The Blackhawks do not generate a ton of shots on Goal ranking 29th with an average of 28.6. When you look at the Blackhawks lineup they just don’t have a lot of talent up front. Patrick Kane leads the team in points, averaging a point per game. Next is All-Star Alex DeBrincat with 39 points in 48 games but after him, the production really tails off. Their Power Play ranks 15th converting at a rate of 20.1%. It’s really hard to find anything good when looking at this team from an offensive prospective, they fail to generate shots and fail to capitalize on the little scoring chances they do create.
Jonathan Toews is out for tonight with a Concussion.
In terms of defense, the Blackhawks rank 24th in Goals Allowed Per game averaging 3.35. In their last 10 games, they’ve been worse conceding an average of 3.80 per game. They allow an average of 32.1 Shots Against per game ranking 21st. Their Penalty Kill ranks 28th with a 74.5% success rate. Again, its tough to find the positive’s here when looking at the Chicago defensive unit. Seth Jones has not lived up to expectations but is still 3rd in terms of points for the team which says something.
Marc-Andre Fleury is expected to get the start in net for the Blackhawks tonight. He has a 15-17-4 record on the year with a 2.94 GAA and a .908 SV%. In his last five games he’s allowed 5-1-5-2-4 Goals Against.
Winnipeg Jets
The Jets have been pretty solid since returning from the break. They’ve gone 2-0-1 defeating the Minnesota Wild and Nashville Predators on the road. Their only loss came at the hands of the Dallas Stars 4-3 in OT. They return from a three game road trip to face the Blackhawks tonight where they’ll begin a four game home stand.
Winnipeg ranks 20th in terms of Goals For per game averaging 2.87. In their last 10 games, they’ve been worse averaging 2.50. However, in their last three games they average 3.33 Goals For per game. The Jest do rank 10th in terms of Shots on Goal averaging 33.5 but have the 24th worst Shooting %. Their Power Play ranks 11th converting at a 21.5%.
The Jets average 2.89 Goals Against per game game ranking 17th. In their last 10, they’ve been worse averaging 3.00. Winnipeg does allow a lot of shots against but Chicago doesn’t generate a ton of shots for as previously mentioned so I don’t think that’s a major concern. Their Penalty Kill also isn’t great ranking 27th with a 74.8% success rate.
It looks like Logan Stanley and Evgeny Svechnikov will return to the lineup tonight. However, Neal Pionk will be out tonight for personal reasons.
Connor Hellebuyck is expected to get the start in net tonight for the Winnipeg Jets. He has a 16-15-7 record on the year with a 2.83 GAA and a .913 SV%. In his last five games he’s allowed 2-4-0-2-5 Goals Against.
Pick:
- WINNIPEG JETS 60 MINUTE LINE (-105)
- The Jets have been better as of late and are better at home, which is expected. They’ve been great against division opponents this year while Chicago has struggled within the division. Neither team is great, but Winnipeg is a better team than Chicago and should take care of business at home here against an inferior opponent.
Other Plays on the Night:
- DETROIT RED WINGS/ MINNESOTA WILD OVER 6.0 (-120)
Best of luck, and as always you can find me on Twitter @GatorBetting and Instagram @Gator_Sports_Betting.
