Washington Capitals vs Chicago Blackhawks Expert NHL Picks 10/20/2019

Sunday, October 20, 2019

United Center

Corey Crawford and the Chicago Blackhawks (2-2-1, 5th in the Central Division) host the Washington Capitals (5-2-2, 3rd in the Metropolitan Division) at United Center on Sunday, October 20, 2019. The line on this game has the Capitals coming in at -110 and the Blackhawks are at +100. The over/under is set at 6. The Capitals are covering 55.6% of the time, having gone 5-4 SU. Chicago covers 40.0% of the time, going 2-3 straight up.

The Washington Capitals head into this matchup holding a record of 5 victories and 2 defeats, ranking them 3rd in the Metropolitan Division. So far this year, they have racked up a total of 31 goals which is 3rd in the East and 3rd in the league. Their goal differential is +3, ranking them 13th in the league. The Capitals have a total of 12 points, which is 4th in the league and 2nd in the Eastern Conference. Regarding shots on goal, they have a total of 277 which is 3rd in the Eastern Conference and 5th in the league. As a team, Washington has a total of 148 hits which means they are averaging 16.4 per game. They have a total of 87 blocks for the year. The man looking after the net for Washington is Braden Holtby from Lloydminster, Saskatchewan. He is 30 years old and has played a total of 313 mins minding the net for the campaign. Holtby is surrendering 3.83 GAA which ranks him 22nd among Eastern Conference goalies and 40th in the NHL. For the year, he has surrendered 20 goals. He's earned a save % of .862 which ranks him 26th among Eastern Conference goalies.

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The Washington Capitals had a good night with a 5 - 2 victory against the New York Rangers in their previous game. The Capitals had a good offensive output in this victory. In their game, they netted 5 of the 34 shots they looked to score on. Additionally, they had 4 power play opportunities and were able to net 2 goals out of those opportunities. Washington had a total of 18 penalty minutes in this game. The Corsi for the Capitals sat at 46 and the Corsi against at even strength was 33 telling us they have a Corsi percentage of 58.2%. Their Fenwick was 32 while the Fenwick against sat at 27, which means they had a Fenwick percentage of 54.2%. They earned 19 face-off wins at even strength and were beaten on 18 attempts to control the puck. The offensive zone starts for them were rated at 63.2% and they had a PDO of 106.9 for this one. Regarding their opponent, the New York Rangers earned 28 shots. They finished with a total of 18 penalty mins and they had 4 power play opportunities.

The Blackhawks are the team looking to add points to their total and for the season they sit with 2 wins and 2 losses. Regarding goal differential, they are currently ranked 8th in the West and 17th in the league with 0. They have a total of 15 goals for the season which ranks 14th in the Western Conference. Chicago has a save percentage as a team of .913 which has them sitting 12th in the league, meaning they are difficult to score against. They have a team shooting percentage of 9.5% ranking them 8th in the Western Conference. In net for Chicago is Corey Crawford who is having a tough year by giving up 3.40 GAA and that ranks him 16th among West goaltenders and 34th in the NHL among goaltenders. In the 176 minutes he has played, he has allowed 10 goals. His save percentage is .900, which places him at 14th among West goaltenders and 31st in the NHL among goaltenders.

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The Chicago Blackhawks faced the Columbus Blue Jackets in a game where the Blackhawks notched a victory by a score of 3 - 2. In this outing, Chicago earned a 47.4% Corsi rating. They wound up with that percentage by having a Corsi of 36 and their opponent having a Corsi of 40. Their Fenwick percentage came in at 44.2% by earning a Fenwick of 23 and the Blue Jackets ending the game with a 29 Fenwick. This Corsi rating is telling of the kind of game that Chicago had and you can say they had a mediocre outing. They had a PDO at even strength of 104.5 and they had an oZS percentage of 54.2%. The Blackhawks converted 3 goals of the 33 shots on goal they were seeking. They had 4 power play attempts in this one and were able to notch 1 out of those tries. Regarding their opponent, the Blue Jackets had 4 power play chances but were not able to score a goal. Chicago gave way to 39 shots on goal and the Blue Jackets racked up a total of 8 minutes in the box.

Who will win tonight's NHL game ATS?

Josh's Pick: Take Chicago (+100)

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