Chicago Blackhawks vs Florida Panthers Predictions, NHL Expert Picks 2/29/2020

Game: Chicago Blackhawks vs Florida Panthers

Date: Saturday, February 29, 2020

Location: BB&T Center in Sunrise, FL

TV: NCH+/FSFL

Odds/Point Spread: Blackhawks (+144) Panthers (-160)

Total/Over-Under: 6.5

Sergei Bobrovsky and the Florida Panthers (33-25-6, 4th in the Atlantic Division) host the Chicago Blackhawks (28-28-8, 7th in the Central Division) at BB&T Center on Saturday, February 29, 2020. The Blackhawks open this contest at +144 while the Panthers are coming in at -160. The total opens at 6.5. The Blackhawks cover 41.0% of the time, having gone 25-36 SU. The Panthers cover 49.2% of the time, going 30-31 straight up.

The Chicago Blackhawks head into this game holding a record of 28 wins and 28 defeats, putting them at 7th in the Central Division. During the year thus far, they have converted a total of 189 goals which is 9th in the Western Conference and 19th in the NHL. Their goal differential is -12, putting them at 24th in the NHL. The Blackhawks currently have a total of 64 points, which is 25th in the NHL and 12th in the Western Conference. With reference to shots at the opposition, they currently have a total of 2,020 which is 8th in the Western Conference and 15th in the NHL. As a group, Chicago has a total of 1,320 hits which means they are averaging 20.6 per game. They currently have a total of 798 blocks for the year. Looking after the goal for Chicago is Corey Crawford from Montreal, Quebec. He is 35 years old and has racked up 1,982 mins minding the net for the campaign. Crawford is surrendering 2.88 goals per game which places him at 16th among West goaltenders and 35th in the NHL among goaltenders. So far this season, he has allowed 95 goals. He has a save percentage of .914 which places him at 12th among West goaltenders.

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The Chicago Blackhawks will head into their next game feeling good after earning a 5 - 2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning in their last contest. The Blackhawks had a solid offensive performance and it showed in the win. For this game, they converted 5 out of the 27 shots they put on net. Moreover, they had 6 power play attempts and were able to net 1 goal out of those attempts. Chicago racked up a total of 12 penalty minutes in this game. The Corsi for the Blackhawks sat at 30 and the Corsi against was 41 which means they had a Corsi percentage of 42.3%. Their Fenwick sat at 23 while the Fenwick against sat at 31, meaning they had a Fenwick percentage of 42.6%. They took 19 face-off wins and lost 17 attempts to control the puck. The offensive zone starts for them were rated at 46.2% and they had a PDO of 110.7 for this game. Concerning opponent stats, the Tampa Bay Lightning tallied a total of 38 shots. They had 34 penalty minutes and they tallied 5 power play attempts.

The Panthers will be the team on the other side of the ice and for the current year they have 33 wins and 25 defeats. In the matter of goal differential, they rank 10th in the East and 16th in the NHL with +4. They have a total of 219 goals for the season which ranks them 3rd in the Eastern Conference. Florida has a save percentage as a team of .897 which currently has them ranked 27th in the NHL, which tells us there could be plenty of chances to score if they attack the goal. They have a team shooting percentage of 10.5% which is good for 5th in the Eastern Conference. In net for Florida is Sergei Bobrovsky who is having a tough season by surrendering 3.26 GAA and that ranks him 30th among Eastern Conference goalies and 60th in the NHL among goalies. In the 2,741 minutes he has been on the ice this year, he's given up 149 goals. He's earned a save % of .899, which puts him at 27th among Eastern Conference goalies and 55th in the NHL among goalies.

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The Florida Panthers opposed the Toronto Maple Leafs in a matchup where the Panthers took the loss by a score of 5 - 3. For this game, Florida earned a 52.5% Corsi rating. That percentage was had by earning a Corsi of 52 and the other team having a Corsi of 47. Their Fenwick percentage was 50.7% by way of having a Fenwick of 36 and the Maple Leafs finishing with a 35 Fenwick. These Corsi statistics are telling of the type of game that Florida had and we'd say they played an average game. Their PDO was 90.7 and they finished the game with an oZS percentage of 43.8%. The Panthers notched 3 goals out of the 27 shots on goal they tried. They had 1 power play attempt in this outing but were not able to net one. As for the opposition, the Maple Leafs had 1 power play attempt but were not able to take advantage. Florida gave way to 29 shots on goal and the Maple Leafs had a total of 7 minutes in the box.

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

Josh's Pick: Take Chicago (+144)

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