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Posted at 1:30 PM EST.

OT included. Both teams come in with identical 7-6-2 records but what’s more interesting is that the numbers under the hood are near identical too. It would therefore be reasonable to suggest that this is one of the most evenly matched games of season so far. In Corsi For %, Chicago and Philadelphia rank 16th and 17th in the league respectively. We could go through all the numbers here, both for and against each team and support the argument that the teams are pretty evenly matched. However, Chicago has a clear edge in net, where Corey Crawford has been outstanding this year while Brian Elliott isn’t even playing at a replacement level this year. Elliott is a #2 getting #1 playing time.

Elliott’s High Danger save % is .790, which ranks him 23rd in the NHL among qualified goaltenders. His overall save % ranks him 17th. In five of his last 10 games, Elliott has posted save percentages of .882, .760, ,806, .667 and .829. Elliott played for the goaltending desperate Flames last year and they couldn’t wait to ship his behind out. The Flyers figured he was a good investment so they signed to to a big contract and now they’re stuck playing him and paying him. Philadelphia had a #1 in its own backyard but failed to do the math. Michael Neuvirth, having played over 270 minutes this year, is a top-3 goaltender in several categories that include save % (.947) and expected Save %, where he ranks 1st overall in the NHL. Neuvirth will backup tonight again because Philadelphia’s brass (mainly GM Ron Hextall) doesn’t want to look foolish and bench a goaltender they’re paying almost three million to this season.

Elliott said he had a number of options in free agency, but the reason he signed a two-year contract with the Flyers came down to the person who reached out to him. "When a guy like Ron Hextall calls you and says he's liked you for a long time and wants to get you on this team, that's pretty special," Elliott said. "I wanted to take advantage of that opportunity."

Translation: The Flyers offered more money than anyone else.

Meanwhile, Corey Crawford has been rock solid and one of the best in the business in all areas of his game both above and below the surface. For argument sake, that’s assume that the game is evenly matched if we take out the goaltenders. Now throw the goaltenders into the equation and it’s a no-brainer as to which goaltender is more trustworthy. That doesn’t mean the Blackhawks will win, as this is just one game in which anything can happen but it does mean we have a big-time edge where outcomes are decided in a high majority of games.

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