Blackhawks and Canucks are Much Improved
Two much-improved teams will take the spotlight on Halloween Night. The Chicago Blackhawks (6-3-3) visit the Vancouver Canucks (7-6) at 10 PM ET on the NHL Network. After finishing near the bottom of the Western Conference last year, the Blackhawks wrapped up the weekend just one point shy of first place in the Central Division. The Canucks are two points out of the lead in the Pacific. TV: 10 p.m. ET, NHL Network, WGN (Chicago), Sportsnet, Sportsnet One, Sportsnet360 (Vancouver). Odds: Canucks are -127-moneyline favorites. The total is 5.5 Under -113. The Canucks have some injury concerns coming into this matchup. Anders Nilsson (.912 save percentage) has been shelved with a broken finger and could miss several weeks of action. He has split the goal-tending duties 50/50 with Jacob Markstrom (.902 SV%). Nilsson joins top defenseman Alex Edler (sprained MCL) and top LW Sven Baertschi (upper-body) on injured reserve. Chicago has a clean bill of health for this game. They’ll also have an extra day of rest, while Vancouver beat the Minnesota Wild on Monday.Canucks and Blackhawks Have Impressive Youngsters
The Canucks Elias Pettersson has established himself as an extremely early favorite for the Calder Trophy with the season’s first month coming to a close. With an NHL rookie-best total in goals (seven) and points (10) despite missing six games due to a concussion. Pettersson, who is the 21st player in NHL history to score at least seven goals in his first seven contests, tallied in both the second and third period of Monday’s 5-2 win over Minnesota. Vancouver snapped a two-game skid to improve to 1-1-0 on its four-game homestand. Chicago has dropped a pair of contests heading into the opener of a three-game trek through the Pacific Northwest. Patrick Kane extended his point streak to six games for the Blackhawks with an assist on defenseman Brent Seabrook’s 5-on-3 goal in the first period of Sunday’s 2-1 overtime loss against Edmonton. The Blackhawks Corey Crawford allowed one goal in three successive starts before getting gashed for six on Saturday in a 7-3 setback at St. Louis. The Canucks outscored the Blackhawks 14-6 en route to winning all three games last season. PREDICTION: Canucks 4, Blackhawks 2NHL Betting Odds & Trends
| Chicago Blackhawks | ||
|---|---|---|
| The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Chicago’s last 7 games | ||
| Chicago is 6-15 SU in its last 21 games on the road | ||
| The total has gone OVER in 4 of Chicago’s last 5 games on the road | ||
| Chicago is 1-6 ATS in its last 7 games when playing Vancouver | ||
| Chicago is 1-4 SU in its last 5 games when playing Vancouver | ||
| The total has gone OVER in 5 of Chicago’s last 5 games when playing Vancouver | ||
| Chicago is 2-4 SU in its last 6 games when playing on the road against Vancouver | ||
| The total has gone OVER in 4 of Chicago’s last 5 games when playing on the road against Vancouver | ||
Vancouver Canucks |
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|---|---|---|
| Vancouver is 14-6 ATS in its last 20 games | ||
| The total has gone UNDER in 8 of Vancouver’s last 10 games | ||
| Vancouver is 8-2 ATS in its last 10 games at home | ||
| Vancouver is 7-3 SU in its last 10 games at home | ||
| The total has gone OVER in 17 of Vancouver’s last 22 games at home | ||
| Vancouver is 6-1 ATS in its last 7 games when playing Chicago | ||
| Vancouver is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games when playing Chicago | ||
| The total has gone OVER in 5 of Vancouver’s last 5 games when playing Chicago | ||
| Vancouver is 4-2 SU in its last 6 games when playing at home against Chicago | ||
| The total has gone OVER in 4 of Vancouver’s last 5 games when playing at home against Chicago | ||