NHL Betting Picks: Vancouver Canucks at Chicago Blackhawks

Added on Dec 03, 2010 by Jack Thurman in

NHL

The ‘marquee matchup’ in the NHL tonight will feature a battle of Western Conference contenders as the Chicago Blackhawks host the Vancouver Canucks. Both teams have had streaks of inconsistent play early in the season but enter this contest in reasonably good form. The Canucks have won three straight and shredded the Calgary Flames 7-2 on the road in their previous outing. The Blackhawks have won three straight and 6 of 8 and survived a 7-5 shootout with St. Louis in their last game.

Vancouver Canucks at Chicago Blackhawks
December 3, 2010 5:30 PM Pacific

These teams are developing quite a rivalry and both have no doubt ‘circled’ this game on the schedule. The defending Stanley Cup champions didn’t exactly come roaring out of the game this season but they’ve been playing solid hockey on both ends of the ice since mid November. The Canucks are a much more enigmatic team and have alternated between good and bad play for the entire season. They started poorly with their offense struggling, went on a winning streak and then hit the skids again in mid-November. Their offense has been torrid in their last three games, however, scoring 17 goals in three wins.

The Canucks are clearly a very streaky team and their YTD statistics underscore this fact–following a win by 2+ goals this season Vancouver is 6-3 with 8 of 9 games Over the total. Chicago had some trouble ‘putting the biscuit in the basket’ earlier this season but have also regained their scoring touch. Vancouver is currently the #5 scoring offense in the NHL (3.26 goals per game) while Chicago is #7 (3.11 goals per game). Vancouver is playing better defense–at least statistically–ranked at #8 in scoring defense. Blackhawks are a substandard #20 in that department but we expect that number to improve as the year progresses and, of course, since we’re talking about fractional numbers there’s not a huge statistical difference between #8 and #20. Both teams allow roughly 30 shots against per game so that differential may reflect the epic talent of Roberto Luongo as much as anything else.

Given the current scoring streak by Vancouver, however, we’re going to look for this game to go Over the total. Canucks will no doubt want to atone for a 7-1 home loss to Chicago several weeks ago and simply stated they’re at their best when they’re scoring goals. The Blackhawks can also play end to end hockey and may look to beat Vancouver and their own game. Marty Turco will get the start tonight for the Blackhawks after Corey Crawford get the nod in the last three games–Turco hasn’t always been sharp this year and for our purposes we’re glad he’s getting the assignment.

Bet Chicago Blackhawks/Vancouver Canucks Over 5′ -130