The Colorado Avalanche (21-9-3) visit the Chicago Blackhawks (13-15-6) Wednesday evening at United Center with an 8 p.m. ET puck drop. We analyze the Avalanche-Blackhawks odds and lines, while providing NHL betting picks and tips around this matchup.
Avalanche at Blackhawks: Projected starting goalies
Philipp Grubauer vs. Corey Crawford
Grubauer owns a 2.83 goals against average and .912 save percentage over 19 starts. He comes in perhaps a bit road-weary, with this turn at United Center being his fourth straight start abroad. Grubauer has allowed five goals over the last 38 shots he’s had come his way.
Crawford has logged a 3.08 GAA behind a ‘Hawks defense which yields a league-worst 36.0 shots on goal per game. The veteran netminder owns a .908 SV% on the season, but over his last six games — a stretch beginning with a rough outing against these Avs — Crawford has been tagged with an .879 figure.
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Avalanche at Blackhawks: Odds, picks and betting tips
Odds courtesy of BetMGM; access them at USA TODAY Sports for a full set of today’s betting odds. Odds last updated at 11:45 a.m. ET.
Prediction
Chicago 4, Colorado 3
Moneyline (ML)
These two Central Division foes are about even in killing penalties (Chicago 18th, Colorado 20th), but tab the Blackhawks with a special-teams advantage in this contest. The ‘Hawks own a 30% power-play success rate over their last seven games. Veteran RW Patrick Kane remains the linchpin of the Chicago offense, with or without an extra skater, and Kane has a hot hand of late. The 31-year-old is coming off a hat trick against the Minnesota Wild and has 30 points over the Blackhawks’ last 22 games.
Colorado’s possession analytics don’t back up the team’s 13-4-1 mark over its last 18 games. The Avalanche are 1-3 straight up when playing the second game of a multi-game road trip. Chicago’s faceoff, possession, and special-teams indicators are headed in the right direction. CHICAGO +125 is a solid play.
Puck Line/Against the Spread (ATS)
The Blackhawks are 4-1 ATS (plus-5.3 units) when playing on two days of rest. They are 4-4 (plus-1.7) when backing up a five-goal game. The Avalanche are 5-5 (minus-0.2) in the tough Central Division. Still, trends on both sides are not supportive of a puck line play. Those trends include Avalanche routs of Chicago (by scores of 5-2 and 7-2) on Nov. 29 and Nov. 30. PASS on Chicago +1.5 (-209).
Over/Under (O/U)
The Over is 4-0 across Colorado’s last four Western Conference games, 15-6-1 over the last 22 games with the Avalanche favored on the road, 4-1 over Chicago’s last five games, 33-16-6 over Chicago’s last 55 games as a home dog and 17-6-3 in the Blackhawks’ last 26 games playing on a two-day rest.
The OVER 5.5 (-154) is the lean but the line needs to be watched. A few points into the 140s would make for a bit of value on the return.
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