Chicago Blackhawks vs. Colorado Avalanche - 12/21/19 NHL Picks, Odds, and Prediction

Game: Chicago Blackhawks vs Colorado Avalanche

Date: Saturday, December 21, 2019

Location: Pepsi Center in Denver, CO

TV: NCH+/Alti

Odds/Point Spread: Blackhawks (+201) Avalanche (-225)

Total/Over-Under: 6

Corey Crawford and the Chicago Blackhawks (14-16-6, 7th in the Central Division) head to Pepsi Center on Saturday where they'll meet the Colorado Avalanche (22-10-3, 2nd in the Central Division). The Blackhawks open this game at +201 while the Avalanche are priced at -225. The over/under is set at 6. The Blackhawks are covering 37.1% of the time, having gone 13-22 SU. The Avalanche are covering 62.9% of the time, going 22-13 straight up.

The Chicago Blackhawks head into this game holding a record of 14 victories and 16 losses, which is good for 7th in the Central Division. During the year thus far, they have scored a total of 98 goals which ranks 10th in the Western Conference and 22nd in the NHL. Their goal differential is -13, which is good for 24th in the NHL. The Blackhawks have earned a total of 34 points, which ranks 25th in the NHL and 12th in the Western Conference. In discussing shots on goal, they have earned a total of 1,107 which ranks 8th in the Western Conference and 16th in the NHL. As a unit, Chicago has earned a total of 814 hits which means they are averaging 22.6 per game. They have earned a total of 457 blocks for the year. The man looking after the net for Chicago is Corey Crawford from Montreal, Quebec. He is 35 years old and has totaled 1,112 minutes protecting the net for the campaign. Crawford is conceding 3.08 goals per contest which has him ranking 26th among West goalies and 49th in the NHL. So far this year, he has allowed 57 goals. He holds a save % of .909 which has him ranking 19th among West goalies.

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The Chicago Blackhawks were on the winning side of the scoreboard with a 4 - 1 win over the Winnipeg Jets in their previous game. The Blackhawks had a solid offensive outing in this win. For this game, they earned a goal on 4 out of the 32 shots they tried. Furthermore, they had 2 power play opportunities and notched 1 goal out of those tries. Chicago racked up a total of 4 penalty mins in this game. The Corsi for the Blackhawks sat at 43 and the Corsi against was 58 which tells us they had a Corsi percentage of 42.6%. Their Fenwick was 36 while the Fenwick against sat at 40, which gave them a Fenwick percentage of 47.4%. They took 25 face-off wins at even strength and lost 20 attempts to control the puck. Their starts in the offensive zone came in at 35.5% and they had a PDO of 107.2 for this one. When it comes to their opponent, the Winnipeg Jets earned a total of 37 shots. They finished with 4 minutes in the box and they had 2 power play attempts.

The Avalanche are the team looking to add points to their total and for the campaign they sit with 22 wins and 10 losses. When looking at goal differential, they are ranked 1st in the conference and 2nd in the league with +29. They have a total of 124 goals for the season which is 1st in the Western Conference. Colorado has a team save % of .918 which has them 5th in the league, meaning they are a tough group to score against. They have a team shooting percentage of 11.2% putting them at 1st in the conference. In goal for Colorado is Philipp Grubauer who is having an average year by surrendering 2.79 goals per game and that places him 14th in the Western Conference and 28th in the NHL. In the 1,117 mins he's been on the ice this season, he's given up 52 goals. He has a save percentage of .915, which ranks him 12th in the Western Conference and 22nd in the NHL.

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The Colorado Avalanche went up against the Carolina Hurricanes in a matchup where the Avalanche took the defeat by a final score of 3 - 1. In this game, Colorado wound up with a 42.5% Corsi rating. They ended up with that by earning a Corsi of 37 while their opponent had a Corsi of 50. Their Fenwick rate came in at 36.1% by earning a Fenwick of 22 and the Hurricanes having earned a 39 Fenwick at even strength. This Corsi rating tells us the kind of game Colorado had and it tells us that they didn't have their best game. Their PDO was 90.3 and they earned an oZS percentage of 41.2%. The Avalanche netted 1 goal out of the 28 shots on goal they took. They had 6 power play attempts in this one and netted 1 out of those opportunities. Concerning the opposition, the Hurricanes had 3 power play opportunities but were not able to take advantage. Colorado gave way to 40 shots on goal and the Hurricanes earned 12 minutes in the box.

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

Guy's Pick: Take Chicago (+201)

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