Pittsburgh Penguins at Chicago Blackhawks NHL Picks & Predictions 10/5/2017

Thursday, October 5, 2017

United Center

Get todays NHL hockey odds on this game.

The Pittsburgh Penguins head to United Center to take on the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday, October 5, 2017. The opening line for this contest has the Penguins at +165 and the Blackhawks at +142.

Pittsburgh had a record of 50-21-11 last year and away from home they had a record of 19-15-7. They were 2nd in the Metropolitan Division. They tallied 282 goals and surrendered 234 goals for a point differential of +48. For the year they had an ATS mark of 66-41-0 and an over/under record of 58-42-0. 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 Pittsburgh Penguins Betting Trends

The Pittsburgh Penguins were 66-41-0 straight up last year

The Pittsburgh Penguins were 58-42-0 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 Pittsburgh Penguins Injuries

10/02/17 RW Patric Hornqvist Hand is downgraded to doubtful Wednesday vs. St. Louis

Key Chicago Blackhawks Injuries

10/02/17 C Jonathan Toews Leg "?" Thursday vs. Pittsburgh
10/02/17 RW Marian Hossa Illness out for season
10/02/17 D Michal Rozsival Concussion IR

Player Spotlight

Sidney Crosby scored 88 total points last year for the Penguins. He had 43 goals last season with 253 shots on net giving him a shooting percentage of 17%. He had a total of 45 assists on the year and averaged 19.9 minutes played per contest. Evgeni Malkin averaged 18.6 minutes of ice time per game last season. In that time he had a shooting percentage of 17% by tallying 33 goals on 191 attempts. He had 39 assists giving him a total of 72 points on the year. Matthew Murray had 32 wins and 10 losses last season in goal for the Penguins. He had 1,450 shots against him and he surrendered 111 goals. He made 1,339 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 Penguins had 111 total points last year, which was 2nd in the NHL. They scored 282 goals while giving up 234 scores, which had them ranked 1st and 14th respectively. They had 260 power play chances and scored 60 goals on those opportunities for a percentage of 23%. That was 3rd in the league. The Penguins gave up 257 power play opportunities and surrendered 52 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 80%, ranking them 20th when short-handed. They averaged 33 shots per contest and as a team shot 10.27% for the year. They allowed 33 shot attempts to their opposition per game and had a team save percentage of 91%, which was 10th 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

Pittsburgh had a Corsi percentage of 49.8% as they tried 4,814 shots on goal while at full strength while they surrendered 4,855 shots on net when they had a full team on the ice. That ranked them 18th in Corsi percentage. They were 12th in the NHL in Fenwick percentage with 50.7% as they had 3,648 shots while they gave up 3,548 attempts on defense. The Penguins started possessions in the offensive zone 53.4% of the time while their defensive zone percentage was at 46.6% for the year. That put them 7th and 26th in the league in zone percentages respectively. They had 2,452 face-off wins as opposed to 2,702 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage was 47.6%. That was 27th overall in the NHL. On defense Pittsburgh had 2,060 hits and they blocked 1,307 attempts from opposing offenses, which was 6th in the league.

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 Penguins/Blackhawks NHL game against the spread?

Josh's Pick: Take Pittsburgh +165

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