St. Louis Blues at Chicago Blackhawks NHL Picks & Predictions 3/18/2018

Sunday, March 18, 2018

United Center

Get todays NHL hockey odds on this game.

The St. Louis Blues head to United Center to take on the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday, March 18, 2018. The opening line for this contest has the Blues at -165 and the Blackhawks at +149.

St. Louis has a record of 37-28-5 this year and away from home they have a record of 17-13-5-0. They are 6th in the Central Division. They have tallied 192 goals and surrendered 186 goals for a point differential of +6. For the year they have an ATS mark of 37-33-0 and an over/under record of 27-42-0. Chicago has a record of 30-33-8 including 17-15-3-0 on home ice this year. They are 7th in the Central Division. They've scored 201 goals and have given up 213 for a goal differential of -12. Their record against the spread is 30-41-0 while their over/under mark is 31-37-0.

Valuable St. Louis Blues Betting Trends

The St. Louis Blues are 37-33-0 straight up this year

The St. Louis Blues are 27-42-0 against the over/under this season

Important Chicago Blackhawks Betting Trends

The Chicago Blackhawks are 30-41-0 straight up this year

The Chicago Blackhawks are 31-37-0 against the over/under this season

Key St. Louis Blues Injuries

09/27/17 C Robby Fabbri ACL IR (10/01)
03/17/18 GO Carter Hutton Neck is downgraded to doubtful Saturday vs NY Rangers
03/05/18 D Jay Bouwmeester Hip is out for season
03/05/18 RW Scottie Upshall MCL is out indefinitely

Key Chicago Blackhawks Injuries

12/27/17 GO Corey Crawford Concussion IR (12/26)
10/05/17 RW Marian Hossa Infection IR (10/03)
10/05/15 D Michal Rozsival Concussion IR (10/03)
03/10/18 LW Anthony Duclair Knee is out indefinitely

Player Spotlight

Brayden Schenn has scored 58 total points this year for the Blues. He has 24 goals this season with 173 shots on net, giving him a shooting percentage of 14%. He has a total of 34 assists on the year and averages 19.6 minutes played per contest. Vladimir Tarasenko averages 19.6 minutes of ice time per game this season. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 10% by tallying 27 goals on 275 attempts. He has 31 assists, giving him a total of 58 points on the year. Jake Allen has 21 wins and 21 losses this season in goal for the Blues. He has 1,328 shots against him and he's surrendered 124 goals. He's made 1,204 stops for a save percentage of 91%.

Player Spotlight

Jonathan Toews has 49 total points this season for the Blackhawks. He has 19 goals this year with 204 shots on goal, giving him a shooting percentage of 9%. He has a total of 30 assists on the year and averages 19.7 minutes played per contest. Patrick Kane averages 20.4 minutes of ice time per contest. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 10% by scoring 25 goals on 252 attempts. He has 42 assists, giving him a total of 67 points on the year. Anton Forsberg has 9 wins and 15 losses this season in net for the Blackhawks. He has 803 shots against him and he's given up 76 goals. He's made 727 saves for a save percentage of 91%.

Useful Team Statistics

The Blues have 79 total points this year, which is 19th in the NHL. They've scored 192 goals while giving up 186 scores, which has them ranked 25th and 28th respectively. They have had 220 power play chances and scored 33 goals on those opportunities for a percentage of 15%. That is 30th in the league. The Blues have given up 207 power play opportunities and surrendered 39 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 81%, ranking them 13th when short-handed. They average 33 shots per contest and as a team shoot 8.34% for the year. They allow 30 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 24th in the league with a total of 68 points this season. They have 39 power play goals on 248 chances for a percentage of 16%. That is 28th in the NHL. They've given up 209 power play opportunities and surrendered 40 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 81%, ranking 14th overall. As a team, the Blackhawks are 21st with a total of 201 goals scored while they've given up 213 goals this season, ranking 13th in goals against. They average 34 shots per game and have a team shooting percentage of 8.26%. As a unit they give up 33 shots per contest and have a save percentage of 91%, putting them 19th overall in the NHL.

Advanced Statistics

St. Louis has a Corsi percentage of 51% as they've tried 4,122 shots on goal while at full strength while they have surrendered 3,960 shots on net when they have a full team on the ice. That ranks them 13th in Corsi percentage. They are 8th in the NHL in Fenwick percentage with 52.3% as they have 3,146 shots while they've given up 2,865 attempts on defense. The Blues start possessions in the offensive zone 50.2% of the time while their defensive zone percentage is at 49.8% for the year. That puts them 18th and 14th in the league in zone percentages respectively. They have 2,089 face-off wins as opposed to 2,077 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 50.1%. That is 19th overall in the NHL. On defense St. Louis has 1,575 hits and they've blocked 1,095 attempts from opposing offenses, which is 11th in the league.

Advanced Statistics

The Blackhawks are 2nd in the league in starting possessions in the offensive zone, doing so 56.5% of the time. Their defensive zone percentage is at 43.5% for the season, which is 30th in the NHL. They have 2,178 face-off wins compared to 2,194 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 49.8%. That is 14th in the league. On defense Chicago has 1,205 hits and they have blocked 986 shots from the opposition, which is 23rd in the league. Chicago is 4th in the NHL in Corsi percentage with 53.1% as they've attempted 4,657 shots on net at full strength while they've given up 4,117 shots on net in the same situations. Their Fenwick percentage of 51.2% ranks 10th as they have 3,284 attempts while they have given up 3,131 shots on the defensive end.

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

Guy's Pick: Take St. Louis -165

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