Minnesota Wild at Chicago Blackhawks NHL Picks & Predictions 12/17/2017

Sunday, December 17, 2017

United Center

Get todays NHL hockey odds on this game.

The Minnesota Wild head to United Center to take on the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday, December 17, 2017. The opening line for this contest has the Wild at +140 and the Blackhawks at -155.

Minnesota has a record of 17-11-3 this year and away from home they have a record of 7-8-1. They are 4th in the Central Division. They have tallied 91 goals and surrendered 88 goals for a point differential of +3. For the year they have an ATS mark of 17-14-0 and an over/under record of 16-13-0. Chicago has a record of 16-11-5 including 9-5-2 on home ice this year. They are 5th in the Central Division. They've scored 98 goals and have given up 85 for a goal differential of +13. Their record against the spread is 16-16-0 while their over/under mark is 13-17-0.

Valuable Minnesota Wild Betting Trends

The Minnesota Wild are 17-14-0 straight up this year

The Minnesota Wild are 16-13-0 against the over/under this season

Important Chicago Blackhawks Betting Trends

The Chicago Blackhawks are 16-16-0 straight up this year

The Chicago Blackhawks are 13-17-0 against the over/under this season

Key Minnesota Wild Injuries

12/14/17 GO Devan Dubnyk Lower Body is out indefinitely
12/01/17 D Jared Spurgeon Groin is out indefinitely
10/24/17 LW Zach Parise Back IR (10/01)

Key Chicago Blackhawks Injuries

12/14/17 D Jan Rutta Upper Body is "?" Sunday vs Minnesota
12/13/17 D Cody Franson Upper Body IR (12/13)
10/05/17 RW Marian Hossa Infection IR (10/03)
10/05/15 D Michal Rozsival Upper Body IR (10/03)

Player Spotlight

Jason Zucker has scored 25 total points this year for the Wild. He has 14 goals this season with 70 shots on net, giving him a shooting percentage of 20%. He has a total of 11 assists on the year and averages 17.6 minutes played per contest. Eric Staal averages 18.5 minutes of ice time per game this season. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 12% by tallying 12 goals on 97 attempts. He has 15 assists, giving him a total of 27 points on the year. Alex Stalock has 5 wins and 3 losses this season in goal for the Wild. He has 287 shots against him and he's surrendered 24 goals. He's made 263 stops for a save percentage of 92%.

Player Spotlight

Patrick Kane has 32 total points this season for the Blackhawks. He has 12 goals this year with 108 shots on goal, giving him a shooting percentage of 11%. He has a total of 20 assists on the year and averages 19.9 minutes played per contest. Jonathan Toews averages 19.9 minutes of ice time per contest. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 10% by scoring 9 goals on 89 attempts. He has 13 assists, giving him a total of 22 points on the year. Corey Crawford has 15 wins and 7 losses this season in net for the Blackhawks. He has 785 shots against him and he's given up 52 goals. He's made 733 saves for a save percentage of 93%.

Useful Team Statistics

The Wild have 37 total points this year, which is 14th in the NHL. They've scored 91 goals while giving up 88 scores, which has them ranked 20th and 23rd respectively. They have had 88 power play chances and scored 19 goals on those opportunities for a percentage of 22%. That is 6th in the league. The Wild have given up 117 power play opportunities and surrendered 20 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 83%, ranking them 9th when short-handed. They average 29 shots per contest and as a team shoot 10.29% for the year. They allow 32 shot attempts to their opposition per game and have a team save percentage of 91%, which is 10th in the league.

Useful Team Statistics

The Blackhawks are 12th in the league with a total of 37 points this season. They have 19 power play goals on 128 chances for a percentage of 15%. That is 29th in the NHL. They've given up 108 power play opportunities and surrendered 18 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 83%, ranking 6th overall. As a team, the Blackhawks are 12th with a total of 98 goals scored while they've given up 85 goals this season, ranking 24th in goals against. They average 35 shots per game and have a team shooting percentage of 8.87%. As a unit they give up 33 shots per contest and have a save percentage of 92%, putting them 4th overall in the NHL.

Advanced Statistics

Minnesota has a Corsi percentage of 45.8% as they've tried 1,587 shots on goal while at full strength while they have surrendered 1,876 shots on net when they have a full team on the ice. That ranks them 30th in Corsi percentage. They are 27th in the NHL in Fenwick percentage with 47.1% as they have 1,227 shots while they've given up 1,376 attempts on defense. The Wild start possessions in the offensive zone 47.9% of the time while their defensive zone percentage is at 52.1% for the year. That puts them 26th and 6th in the league in zone percentages respectively. They have 923 face-off wins as opposed to 930 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 49.8%. That is 18th overall in the NHL. On defense Minnesota has 566 hits and they've blocked 500 attempts from opposing offenses, which is 2nd in the league.

Advanced Statistics

The Blackhawks start possessions in the offensive zone 57.6% of the time while their defensive zone percentage is at 42.4% for the year. That ranks them 2nd and 31st respectively in the NHL. They have 983 face-off wins as opposed to 1,035 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 48.7%. That is 22nd in the league. On defense Chicago has 611 hits and they've blocked 445 attempts from opposing offenses, ranking them 25th in blocked shots. Chicago is ranked 6th in Corsi percentage with 52.3% as they've tried 2,063 shots on goal while at full strength while they have surrendered 1,880 shots on net when they have a full team on the ice. Their Fenwick percentage is 12th in the NHL at 50.6%, as they have 1,469 shots while they've given up 1,435 attempts on defense.

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

Guy's Pick: Take Minnesota +140

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