The Vegas Golden Knights go for the 2-0 First Round lead against the Chicago Blackhawks Thursday at Rogers Place in Edmonton. Puck drops for this 1-8 Western Conference matchup shortly after 5:30 p.m. ET. Below, we look at the Blackhawks-Golden Knights betting odds and lines and make our NHL picks and best bets.
Blackhawks vs. Golden Knights: Projected starting goalies
Corey Crawford vs. Robin Lehner
Crawford, a two-time Stanley Cup winner, remains in net over backup Malcolm Subban, despite what has been a very lackluster postseason performance. He has a .889 save percentage and 3.80 goals against average through five games, including the qualifier. He allowed four goals on 34 shots in Game 1 of this series.
Lehner, Crawford’s former backup in Chicago, stopped 19 of just 20 shots he faced in Game 1. He now has a .915 SV% through his last three games, all wins.
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Blackhawks vs. Golden Knights: Odds, picks and betting tips
Odds courtesy of BetMGM; access them at USA TODAY Sports for a full list. Odds last updated at 11:45 a.m. ET.
Prediction
Golden Knights 5, Blackhawks 1
Moneyline (ML)
Stick with the GOLDEN KNIGHTS (-189) after their 4-1 victory in Game 1 in which they outshot the Blackhawks 34-20. It’s important to remember Chicago was the Western Conference’s 12th seed by point percentage after the regular season was cut short.
They moved up to eighth with a qualification round upset of the Edmonton Oilers, but the Golden Knights are a vastly superior opponent. Vegas moved from second in the West to first via the round-robin tournament. This won’t be a long series, and the moneyline price for Vegas will only continue to drop as it goes on.
New to sports betting? A $18.90 bet on the Golden Knights to win Game 2 will return a profit of $10.
Puck Line/Against the Spread (ATS)
The best bet for your bankroll is to get the GOLDEN KNIGHTS -1.5 (+140) to win by at least 2 goals. Chicago was unimpressive in Game 1 and didn’t look like they could hang in this series.
Crawford is outmatched in the goaltending battle against his former backup, and the situation only gets worse for Chicago if it’s forced to pivot to Subban.
Over/Under (O/U)
Betting totals without the half-goal hook is rarely the best play, but an exception can be made Thursday. I like the OVER 6 (-115) but there is concern over the Blackhawks being able to contribute their share.
My predicted goal total was 6 on the nose. I think if this game lands on either side of that it’s to the Over, but a push would be an acceptable result as opposed to a loss on a total of 6.5.
Esten’s NHL betting record: 32-22
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