The Chicago Blackhawks (22-20-6) close out a Canada road trip Saturday with a 7 p.m. ET game against the Toronto Maple Leafs (25-16-7) at Scotiabank Arena. We analyze the Blackhawks-Maple Leafs odds and lines, while providing NHL betting tips around this matchup.
Blackhawks at Maple Leafs: Projected starting goalies
Corey Crawford vs. Frederik Andersen
Crawford owns a 3.00 goals against average and .908 save percentage. He stopped 32 of 33 against the Montreal Canadiens Wednesday and has logged a .933 SV% over his last three starts.
Andersen owns a 2.80 GAA and .912 SV% through 38 games. He has logged a 3.73 GAA and .893 SV% in six January games, but he yielded just one goal on 32 shots in a 2-1 shootout loss to the Calgary Flames Thursday. The veteran netminder has been undone a bit on the penalty kill, were he has sported a .854 SV%. Andersen is the last line of defense for a Toronto team giving up more shots of late and allowing a 25% power-play conversion rate over the team’s last 11 games.
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Blackhawks at Maple Leafs: 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 12 p.m. ET.
Prediction
Toronto 5, Chicago 4
Moneyline (ML)
Chicago is thus far 2-0 on its three-city Canadian tour (Ottawa-Montreal-Toronto). Overall, the Blackhawks have won three straight and nine of its last 14 games. Over those 13 games, the ‘Hawks allowed 3.0 goals per game and that’s on the heels of yielding 4.1 GPG from Nov. 29-Dec. 18 (11 games). Possession and shot-quality analytics are not in support of Chicago’s recent surge and those same peripherals are bullish on Toronto despite the Maple Leafs going just 1-4 over their last five games.
Saturday’s game marks the front end of a back-to-back for the ‘Hawks, who have struggled in such situations. Chicago is 3-6 in front-end games. In this scenario, there could also be some look-ahead letdown. After the Toronto game, the ‘Hawks go home for two ahead of next week’s all-star break and then their bye week. Make a small-to-moderate-confidence play on TORONTO (-209).
Puck Line/Against the Spread (ATS)
Away from home, the Blackhawks are 15-8 against the puck line. And the Leafs have a near-mirror image of that with a 9-15 mark at home.
Again, there are some underlying peripherals making Chicago (+1.5, -149) a fade. AVOID.
Over/Under (O/U)
Both teams have leaned toward the Over in recent games, and there are a slew of trends pointing the same way. The Over is 4-1 across the last five games in the Chicago-Toronto series. There is excellent leverage in the OVER 6.5 (-106).
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