Nashville Predators at Chicago Blackhawks odds, picks and best bets
The Nashville Predators (19-16-7) and Chicago Blackhawks (19-19-6) will tangle in a Central Division battle at United Center Thursday at 8:30 p.m. ET. We analyze the Predators-Blackhawks sports betting odds and lines, while providing NHL betting tips around this matchup.
Predators at Blackhawks: Projected starting goalies
Pekka Rinne vs. Corey Crawford
Rinne owns a 3.06 goals against average and .894 save percentage. Both numbers would be the worst of his career, but look for a bounce-back in the second half of the season.
Crawford is 7-12-2 on the season with a .906 SV% and 3.09 GAA.
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Predators at Blackhawks: Odds, picks and betting tips
Odds courtesy of BetMGM; access them at Paste BN Sports for a full set of today's betting odds. Odds last updated at 11:45 a.m. ET.
Prediction
Chicago 3, Nashville 2
Moneyline (ML)
Chicago (+115) has looked better on the surface of late, and improvement has been made on the penalty kill. The Blackhawks continue to be woeful on the power play (3-for-their-last-32) and they are unsure as to how to pair star winger Patrick Kane in a productive and consistent line.
PASS.
Puck Line/Against the Spread (ATS)
Both clubs are a game or two under .500 against the puck line. Chicago does lose more than its fair share of games by 2 or more tallies, but the Preds haven't been playing well enough to leverage the Nashville (-1.5 +185) line. Nashville is 1-4-1 with 4.5 goals per game allowed since Christmas. PASS.
Over/Under (O/U)
The Over is 6-2 in Chicago's last eight games on one-day rest, 33-15-1 in the Blackhawks' last 49 games when their opponent scores two or fewer goals in their previous game and 8-1 over Nashville's last nine road games. It's also 10-2-1 in the Predators' last 13 games overall and 5-1-1 over the Preds' last seven games on one-day of rest.
Nashville has yielded a slew of shots lately. The 'Hawks always do - they rank last in the NHL, allowing 35.8 shots per game. Back the UNDER 6.5 (-143). Both offenses are out too far over their skis in goals scored (underlying analytics don't support their current rates). The Over trends are low-hanging fruit for bettors.
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