NHL Hockey Betting Picks: Chicago @ Columbus
Added on Feb 14, 2010 by Jack Thurman in
No Comments
With the sportsbooks offering only the NBA All Star game for pro hoops action we’ll look for a NHL sports betting opportunity as the Chicago Blackhawks travel to Columbus, Ohio for a game against the Blue Jackets. Chicago hasn’t been quite as dominant over the past few weeks as earlier in the season and as a result have slipped 4 points behind San Jose for the Western Conference lead. Columbus is trying to scrap back into the playoff picture following the dismissal of Ken Hitchcock:
Chicago Blackhawks at Columbus Blue Jackets
February 14, 2:05 PM Pacific
The Blue Jackets have picked up the pace somewhat since Claude Noel took over for the fired Ken Hitchcock, though they’re still 10 points out of the final Western Conference playoff spot. Their defense has improved dramatically under Noel, and the Jackets have now won 4 of their L6 games. Chicago is off a shootout victory over Atlanta at home last night, but they’ve been struggling to keep pace with the red hot San Jose Sharks atop the division.
We’ve talked a lot about the Blackhawks this year–at the beginning of the season they weren’t really producing on offense and relied on a tenacious defensive game to pile up the victories. As their scoring attack has come around, they’ve actually become a better team when playing a more wide open brand of hockey. Simply put, they have a better chance of winning games playing end to end hockey than trying to prevail in a defensive struggle. Four of the Blackhawks last 6 losses have also gone ‘Under’ the total. The Blackhawks do lead the NHL in goals against per game (2.25) but they’re also #4 in goals for per game. Typically, teams that prefer a defensive struggle do so out of necessity because they lack playmakers on the offensive end (Phoenix, Calgary). Teams that do have offensive playmakers are better served leveraging that advantage which is much more difficult for teams without the same level of talent to negate.
Blackhawks have gone ‘Over’ in 7 of their L10, and despite a solid Columbus bias to the ‘Under’ we look for a similar style of game to the Jackets last home contest–a 4-3 ‘Over’ loss to Vancouver. 6 of the last 8 meetings at Columbus have gone ‘Over’ the total as have two of the three meetings this year. The two teams met at Columbus on 1/16/10 with a total of 11 goals scored, and the three games this season have averaged 7 goals per game.
Bet Chicago/Columbus Over 5′ +100
