NHL Betting Free Picks: Edmonton @ Chicago
Added on Mar 04, 2010 by Jack Thurman in
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NHL betting is back at sportsbooks after a lengthy hiatus for the Winter Olympics. We’ll look for a good value opportunity as one of the NHL’s worst teams faces one of the best as lowly Edmonton travels to Chicago for a game against the Blackhawks. Both teams played last night, with the Oilers losing at Nashville while the Blackhawks were shocked by the New York Islanders as a -200 road favorite.
Edmonton Oilers at Chicago Blackhawks
March 3, 5:35 PM Pacific
This was already a bad matchup for the Oilers, and catching the Blackhawks off a loss won’t make things any better for them. Edmonton has the worst record in the NHL, while Chicago has the third best and is still within striking range of West leading San Jose and NHL leading Washington. The reason these two teams are where they are in the NHL pecking order can easily be seen from a statistical standpoint: the Blackhawks score goals and keep their opponents from scoring, while the Oilers do just the opposite. Chicago is #3 in the NHL in goals scored per game and #1 in the NHL in goals against per game. Edmonton is last in both statistical categories.
Obviously we can’t get involved with the Blackhawks as a -380 home favorite, nor do we have enough confidence in the Oilers to take a flyer on them at the huge takeback price. We are going to look to play the Over here. Blackhawks could very easily surpass this total on their own. Both teams went Over in their return to action after the Olympics–the fourth straight Over for the Blackhawks. Head to head, the games have been shootouts of late with the Blackhawks getting the best of it. The teams have met three times this year, with all going Over the total with an average of 6.6 goals scored per game. Going back further, 5 of the L7 meetings have gone Over with an average of 6.7 goals per game. Look for another Over here.
Bet Chicago/Edmonton Over 5′ -130
