St. Louis Blues vs Chicago Blackhawks Predictions, NHL Expert Picks 3/8/2020

Game: St. Louis Blues vs Chicago Blackhawks

Date: Sunday, March 8, 2020

Location: United Center in Chicago, IL

TV: NBCS

Odds/Point Spread: Blues (-125) Blackhawks (+113)

Total/Over-Under: 6

United Center is the venue where Corey Crawford and the Chicago Blackhawks (31-29-8, 7th in the Central Division) will play the St. Louis Blues (40-18-10, 1st in the Central Division) on Sunday. The odds on this matchup have the Blues priced at -125 and the Blackhawks are at +113. The over/under is set at 6. The Blues cover 57.6% of the time, having gone 38-28 SU. Chicago is covering 42.2% of the time, going 27-37 straight up.

The St. Louis Blues head into this game holding a record of 40 victories and 18 defeats, ranking them 1st in the Central Division. Thus far in the season, they have scored a total of 216 goals which is good for 3rd in the West and 10th in the league. Their goal differential is +30, ranking them 5th in the league. The Blues have compiled a total of 90 pts, which is good for 2nd in the league and 1st in the Western Conference. When discussing shots at the opposing goalie, they have compiled a total of 2,089 which is good for 10th in the conference and 19th in the league. As a team, St. Louis has compiled a total of 1,338 hits which means they are averaging 19.7 per contest. They have compiled a total of 676 blocks for the year. Protecting the net for St. Louis is Jordan Binnington from Richmond Hill, Ontario. He is 26 years old and has played 2,890 minutes defending the net for the campaign. Binnington is giving up an average of 2.57 goals per game which has him placed 6th among West goaltenders and 15th among goaltenders in the NHL. Over the course of this season, he's allowed 124 goals. He has a save % of .911 which has him placed 18th among West goaltenders.

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The St. Louis Blues were on the losing side of the ice with a 4 - 2 loss to the New Jersey Devils in their previous contest. The Blues had a below average offensive performance in the loss. In this game, they scored on 2 of the 33 shots they looked to score on. They also had 4 power play chances and scored 1 goal out of those attempts. St. Louis earned 4 penalty mins in this game. The Corsi for the Blues was 45 and the Corsi against was 39 meaning they had a Corsi percentage of 53.6%. Their Fenwick was 35 while the Fenwick against sat at 30, which tells us they had a Fenwick percentage of 53.8%. They took 26 face-off wins at even strength and were beaten on 28 of the face-offs. Their offensive zone starts were rated at 56.5% and they had a PDO of 88.8 for this one. Regarding their opponent, the New Jersey Devils earned 32 shots. They ended the game with 8 penalty minutes and they notched 2 power play attempts.

The Blackhawks will be the team on the other side of the ice and for the season they have 31 victories and 29 defeats. Regarding goal differential, they rank 11th in the West and 23rd in the NHL with -8. They have compiled a total of 202 goals for the season which is 9th in the West. Chicago has a save percentage as a team of .912 which currently has them ranked 7th in the NHL, meaning chances to score may be limited. They have a shooting percentage of 9.4% ranking them 7th in the Western Conference. In net for Chicago is Corey Crawford who is having an average year by allowing 2.81 goals per contest and that places him 18th in the West and 35th among goalies in the NHL. In the 2,224 minutes he's been on the ice this year, he has surrendered 104 goals. His save percentage is .916, which has him ranking 13th in the West and 21st among goalies in the NHL.

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The Chicago Blackhawks opposed the Detroit Red Wings in a matchup where the Blackhawks went home in defeat by a score of 2 - 1. While out there on the ice, Chicago had a 53.8% Corsi rating. That percentage was had by earning a Corsi of 50 while the opposition had a Corsi of 43. They earned a Fenwick percentage of 60.0% by notching a Fenwick of 42 and the Red Wings finishing with a 28 Fenwick at even strength. This Corsi rating tells us the kind of game Chicago played and you can safely assume that they'll look to improve in their next outing. They had a PDO of 98.4 and they finished the game with an oZS percentage of 70.4%. The Blackhawks converted 1 goal out of the 33 shots on goal they were seeking. They had 3 power play attempts in this game but weren't able to put one in the back of the net. In discussing the opposition, the Red Wings had 2 power play opportunities and went on to score 1 goal. Chicago conceded 25 shots on goal and the Red Wings racked up 6 penalty mins.

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

Josh's Pick: Take St. Louis (-125)

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