Chicago Blackhawks vs. Calgary Flames - 12/31/19 NHL Picks, Odds, and Prediction

Game: Chicago Blackhawks vs Calgary Flames

Date: Tuesday, December 31, 2019

Location: Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, AB

TV: RSNW/NSCH

Odds/Point Spread: Blackhawks (+166) Flames (-185)

Total/Over-Under: 6

Scotiabank Saddledome is the site where David Rittich and the Calgary Flames (20-16-5, 4th in the Pacific Division) will play the Chicago Blackhawks (17-17-6, 7th in the Central Division) on Tuesday. The Flames open this matchup at -185 while the Blackhawks are priced at +166. The over/under has been set at 6. The Blackhawks cover 39.5% of the time, having gone 15-23 SU. Calgary covers 44.7% of the time, going 17-21 straight up.

The Chicago Blackhawks head into this game holding a record of 17 wins and 17 losses, which puts them at 7th in the Central Division. Thus far in the season, they have earned a total of 111 goals which has them ranked at 9th in the West and 20th in the league. Their goal differential is -14, which puts them at 24th in the league. The Blackhawks have a total of 40 pts, which has them ranked at 25th in the league and 12th in the West. When looking at shots at the opposing goalie, they have a total of 1,232 which has them ranked at 8th in the conference and 17th in the league. As a group, Chicago currently has a total of 896 hits which means they are averaging 22.4 per contest. They have a total of 512 blocks for this year. The man looking after the net for Chicago is Corey Crawford from Montreal, Quebec. He is 35 years old and has played 1,142 mins minding the goal for the season. Crawford is giving up 3.20 goals per contest which places him at 26th in the Western Conference and 51st in the NHL. During this season, he's allowed 61 goals. He's earned a save percentage of .905 which places him at 20th in the Western Conference.

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The Chicago Blackhawks had a good night with a 3 - 2 victory against the Columbus Blue Jackets their last time out. The Blackhawks had a middle of the road offensive outing in this victory. For this game, they netted 3 out of the 30 shots they put on net. In addition, they had 5 power play opportunities and were able to notch 1 goal out of those opportunities. Chicago ended up with 8 penalty minutes while out there on the ice. The Corsi for the Blackhawks was 48 and the Corsi against was 44 which means they had a Corsi percentage of 52.2%. Their Fenwick sat at 29 while the Fenwick against sat at 36, meaning they had a rate of 44.6%. They earned 25 face-off wins and were beaten on 18 attempts to control the puck. Their offensive zone starts came in at 73.1% and they had a PDO of 98.1 in this one. When it comes to their opponent, the Columbus Blue Jackets earned 33 shots. They finished with a total of 12 penalty mins and they tallied 3 power play chances.

The Flames will be the team across the ice and for the current year they have 20 wins and 16 losses. When it comes to goal differential, they rank 12th in the conference and 25th in the NHL with -14. They currently have a total of 108 goals for this year which ranks 11th in the conference. Calgary has a save % as a team of .908 which currently has them sitting 12th in the NHL, which means there should be some chances to score. They are shooting 8.6% ranking them 13th in the West. In goal for Calgary is David Rittich who is having a marginal campaign by surrendering 2.73 GAA and that places him 9th in the Western Conference and 20th in the NHL. In the 1,823 minutes he has played this season, he has surrendered 83 goals. He holds a save percentage of .914, which places him at 12th in the Western Conference and 22nd in the NHL.

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The Calgary Flames opposed the Vancouver Canucks in an outing where the Flames took the loss by a final of 5 - 2. For this game, Calgary wound up with a 49.4% Corsi rating. They ended up with that by earning a Corsi of 42 and their opponent having a Corsi of 43. They earned a Fenwick percentage of 46.9% with a Fenwick of 30 and the Canucks having earned a 34 Fenwick at even strength. These Corsi statistics are telling of the type of game that Calgary played and it could be said that this team has had better games. They had a PDO at even strength of 95.5 and they had an oZS percentage of 52.6%. The Flames notched 2 goals of the 25 shots on goal they pursued. They had 4 power play chances in this outing but were not able to net one. As for their opponent, the Canucks had 5 power play chances and ended up scoring 2 goals. Calgary gave way to 28 shots on goal and the Canucks had a total of 10 penalty mins.

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

Guy's Pick: Take Chicago (+166)

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