Boston Bruins at Chicago Blackhawks NHL Picks & Predictions 9/30/2017

Saturday, September 30, 2017

United Center

Get todays NHL hockey odds on this game.

The Boston Bruins head to United Center to take on the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday, September 30, 2017. The opening line for this contest has the Bruins at +120 and the Blackhawks at -145.

Boston had a record of 44-31-7 last year and away from home they had a record of 21-14-6. They were 3rd in the Atlantic Division. They tallied 234 goals and surrendered 212 goals for a point differential of +22. For the year they had an ATS mark of 46-42-0 and an over/under record of 40-40-0. Chicago finished with a record of 50-23-9 including 26-10-5 on home ice last year. They were 1st in the Central Division. They scored 244 goals and gave up 213 for a goal differential of +31. Their record against the spread was 50-36-0 while their over/under mark was 37-33-0.

Valuable Boston Bruins Betting Trends

The Boston Bruins were 46-42-0 straight up last year

The Boston Bruins were 40-40-0 against the over/under last season

Important Chicago Blackhawks Betting Trends

The Chicago Blackhawks were 50-36-0 straight up last year

The Chicago Blackhawks were 37-33-0 against the over/under last season

Key Boston Bruins Injuries

9/27/2017 Anton Khudobin G Lower Body
9/21/2017 Torey Krug D Face
9/19/2017 Ryan Lindgren D Lower Leg

Key Chicago Blackhawks Injuries

9/23/2017 Luc Snuggerud D Upper Body
9/15/2017 Michal Rozsival D Concussion
6/21/2017 Marian Hossa RW Illness

Player Spotlight

David Pastrnak scored 70 total points last year for the Bruins. He had 34 goals last season with 261 shots on net giving him a shooting percentage of 13%. He had a total of 36 assists on the year and averaged 18 minutes played per contest. Brad Marchand averaged 19.4 minutes of ice time per game last season. In that time he had a shooting percentage of 17% by tallying 39 goals on 226 attempts. He had 46 assists giving him a total of 85 points on the year. Tuukka Rask had 37 wins and 20 losses last season in goal for the Bruins. He had 1,610 shots against him and he surrendered 137 goals. He made 1,473 stops for a save percentage of 92%.

Player Spotlight

Jonathan Toews had 57 total points last season for the Blackhawks. He had 20 goals last year with 197 shots on goal giving him a shooting percentage of 10%. He had a total of 37 assists on the year and averaged 20.2 minutes played per contest. Patrick Kane averaged 21.4 minutes of ice time per contest. In that time he had a shooting percentage of 12% by scoring 34 goals on 289 attempts. He had 54 assists giving him a total of 88 points on the year. Corey Crawford had 32 wins and 18 losses last season in net for the Blackhawks. He had 1,691 shots against him and he gave up 138 goals. He made 1,553 saves for a save percentage of 92%.

Useful Team Statistics

The Bruins had 95 total points last year, which was 13th in the NHL. They scored 234 goals while giving up 212 scores, which had them ranked 13th and 22nd respectively. They had 244 power play chances and scored 53 goals on those opportunities for a percentage of 22%. That was 7th in the league. The Bruins gave up 266 power play opportunities and surrendered 38 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 86%, ranking them 1st when short-handed. They averaged 33 shots per contest and as a team shot 8.60% for the year. They allowed 27 shot attempts to their opposition per game and had a team save percentage of 91%, which was 23rd in the league.

Useful Team Statistics

The Blackhawks were 3rd in the league with a total of 109 points last season. They had 42 power play goals on 233 chances for a percentage of 18%. That was 19th in the NHL. They gave up 211 power play opportunities and surrendered 47 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 78%, ranking 24th overall. As a team, the Blackhawks were 9th with a total of 244 goals scored while they gave up 213 goals last season, ranking 21st in goals against. They averaged 31 shots per game and had a team shooting percentage of 9.73%. As a unit they gave up 31 shots per contest and had a save percentage of 92%, putting them 5th overall in the NHL.

Advanced Statistics

The Bruins were 4th in the league in starting possessions in the offensive zone, doing so 53.2% of the time. Their defensive zone percentage was at 46.8% for the season, which was 23rd in the NHL. They had 2,681 face-off wins compared to 2,358 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage was 53.2%. That was 3rd in the league. On defense Boston had 1,775 hits and they blocked 1,093 shots from the opposition, which was 22nd in the league. Boston was 2nd in the NHL in Corsi percentage with 54.3% as they attempted 4,975 shots on net at full strength while they gave up 4,187 shots on net in the same situations. Their Fenwick percentage of 55.1% ranked 1st as they had 3,792 attempts while they gave up 3,094 shots on the defensive end.

Advanced Statistics

Chicago had a Corsi percentage of 49.8% as they tried 4,618 shots on goal while at full strength while they surrendered 4,653 shots on net when they had a full team on the ice. That ranked them 13th in Corsi percentage. They were 21st in the NHL in Fenwick percentage with 49.4% as they had 3,347 shots while they gave up 3,427 attempts on defense. The Blackhawks started possessions in the offensive zone 52.6% of the time while their defensive zone percentage was at 47.4% for the year. That put them 5th and 24th in the league in zone percentages respectively. They had 2,236 face-off wins as opposed to 2,474 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage was 47.5%. That was 23rd overall in the NHL. On defense Chicago had 1,178 hits and they blocked 1,226 attempts from opposing offenses, which was 9th in the league.

Who will win tonight's Bruins/Blackhawks NHL game against the spread?

Josh's Pick: Take Boston +120

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