Colorado Avalanche vs. Chicago Blackhawks - 12/18/19 NHL Picks, Odds, and Prediction

Game: Colorado Avalanche vs Chicago Blackhawks

Date: Wednesday, December 18, 2019

Location: United Center in Chicago, IL

TV: NBCS

Odds/Point Spread: Avalanche (-138) Blackhawks (+125)

Total/Over-Under: 6.5

Corey Crawford and the Chicago Blackhawks (13-15-6, 7th in the Central Division) play the Colorado Avalanche (21-9-3, 2nd in the Central Division) at United Center on Wednesday, December 18, 2019. The Blackhawks open this game at +125 while the Avalanche are priced at -138. The total is set at 6.5. The Avalanche are covering 63.6% of the time, having gone 21-12 SU. The Blackhawks are covering 36.4% of the time, going 12-21 straight up.

The Colorado Avalanche head into this game holding a record of 21 wins and 9 losses, ranking them 2nd in the Central Division. During the year thus far, they have earned a total of 119 goals which is good for 1st in the West and 2nd in the NHL. Their goal differential is +28, ranking them 2nd in the NHL. The Avalanche have earned a total of 45 points, which is good for 5th in the NHL and 2nd in the West. With regard to shots toward the net, they have earned a total of 1,047 which is good for 8th in the conference and 18th in the NHL. As a group, Colorado currently has a total of 556 hits which means they have an average of 16.8 per game. They have earned a total of 404 blocks for the year. The man in net for Colorado is Philipp Grubauer from Rosenheim, Germany. He is 28 years old and has been on the ice a total of 1,059 minutes protecting the net this season. Grubauer is allowing 2.83 goals per contest which has him ranked 15th in the Western Conference and 30th among goalies in the NHL. For the year, he's given up 50 goals. He holds a save % of .912 which has him ranked 16th in the Western Conference.

Related: NHL Totals Betting: Expert Tips and Advice

The Colorado Avalanche were on the wrong end of the scoreboard with a 5 - 2 defeat to the St. Louis Blues in their previous contest. The Avalanche had a rough night on the offensive side of the ice in this loss. For this game, they earned a goal on 2 out of the 28 shots they put on goal. Additionally, they had 2 power play opportunities and netted 1 goal out of those attempts. Colorado ended up with a total of 8 penalty minutes in this game. The Corsi for the Avalanche was 48 and the Corsi against was 53 which earned them a Corsi percentage of 47.5%. Their Fenwick was 39 while the Fenwick against was 42, which means they had a rate of 48.1%. They won 18 face-off wins at even strength and lost 24 of the face-offs. Their offensive zone starts came in at 58.2% and they had a PDO of 94.0 for this matchup. In terms of their opponent's stats, the St. Louis Blues put up 35 shots. Their total at the end of the game was 6 penalty minutes and they had 3 power play opportunities.

The Blackhawks will be the team across the ice and for the season they have 13 victories and 15 defeats. Regarding goal differential, they rank 13th in the Western Conference and 25th in the NHL with -13. They have a total of 93 goals for this season which is good for 10th in the West. Chicago has a save % as a team of .913 which has them sitting 8th in the NHL, which means chances to score may be limited. They are shooting 8.9% which is good for 9th in the conference. In net for Chicago is Corey Crawford who is having a rough year by giving up 3.08 goals against average and that has him ranked 27th among Western Conference goaltenders and 51st among goalies in the NHL. In the 1,052 minutes he's been on the ice, he's given up 54 goals. He holds a save % of .908, which has him ranked 18th among Western Conference goaltenders and 36th among goalies in the NHL.

Related: How to Turn Hockey Bets into Big Profits

The Chicago Blackhawks faced the Minnesota Wild in an outing where the Blackhawks took home the victory by a tally of 5 - 3. For this matchup, Chicago wound up with a 44.6% Corsi rating. They earned that percentage by having a Corsi of 45 while the opposition earned a Corsi of 56. They earned a Fenwick percentage of 40.9% with a Fenwick of 27 and the Wild finishing with a 39 Fenwick. This Corsi rating is telling of the kind of game that Chicago played and it was an excellent showing for this outing. Their PDO was 108.7 and they earned an oZS percentage of 40.8%. The Blackhawks notched 5 goals out of the 27 shots on goal they tried. They had 2 power play opportunities in this one and scored 1 out of those chances. In discussing their opponent, the Wild had 1 power play attempt and took advantage of the situation by scoring 1 goal. Chicago conceded 26 shots on goal and the Wild racked up a total of 6 minutes in the box.

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

Tony's Pick: Take Colorado (-138)

Get $60 worth of FREE premium member picks. No Obligation. No Salesman. No Credit Card. Fast Sign up with Instant Access Click Here