Chicago @ NASHVILLE
Chicago +144 over NASHVILLE

BEST LINES: Pinnacle +144  SportsInteraction +135 5DIMES +142

Posted at 1:25 PM EST.

6:05 PM EST. OT included. The Blackhawks are underpriced here for a few reasons. First and foremost is that the Predators will be overpriced. Secondly, Chicago played last night and they also played Saturday so this is its third game in four night and tail end of back-to-backs. That will be figured into the line as well. Finally, the Blackhawks will almost certainly use Anton Forsberg in goal because Cory Crawford played last night. All of these things combined assure us that the Blackhawks will be underpriced, which is our prompt to move in. Whether the Blackhawks are fatigued or not remains to be seen but when a team is playing well and winning, energy levels are higher. From November 1 to the present, the Blackhawks Corsi For % during five-on-five play is second best in the NHL. Over its last 15 games, the Blackhawks have been out-Corsied just three times and they have completely dominated many of those. From late October to early November, the Blackhawks fought, scratched and scraped for every goal. They’ve regained their scoring touch, seemingly one line at a time. Since Nov. 11, when they came back for a 4-3 overtime victory over the Hurricanes, the Blackhawks have scored 30 goals in their last seven games. In seven games prior to that they had just 12 goals. When a team is scoring goals they can’t wait to get back on the ice so we’re betting that Chicago’s energy level will remain high. They also lost to Nashville four straight in last year’s playoffs so that figures to be a motivating factor too. Aside from all that, the Preds might be the NHL’s most overvalued team.

Nashville was so much better last year than this year. Readers of this space know that our position on Pekka Rinne over the past two or three years is that he was among the worst goaltenders in the league. This season, however, we have backed off of that position because Rinne is playing better than he has in years and is one of the reasons the Preds’ misleading record is as good as it is. Regression is on the way though. Nashville is 14-6-3 and it is 8-1-1 at home. We can’t over-emphasize how preposterous that is because of how poorly the Preds are playing. Over their last 15 games, Nashville’s penalty difference is -18, which is the worst mark in the NHL. When a team is committing so many infractions it is because they don’t have the puck. Since November 1, the Preds rank 21st in Corsi For per 60 minutes during five on five play and 28th in Corsi Against per 60 during five-on-five play. Those rankings put them in the same range as Buffalo, Colorado and Arizona. Nashville’s luck driven PDO (shooting percentage + save percentage) ranks 4th in the league over that same span. The Preds have been nothing but pure luck for well over a month. They rank highly in every luck driven stat, which is the only reason they are winning. Nashville ranks third on the PP and sixth on the penalty kill and as those inevitably regress, so, too, will its misleading record. Nashville has lost the Corsi battle in nine of its last 11 games and they are dead last in the NHL in scoring chances for. The Predators are a weak hockey team that is getting good results but things will start to even out soon. The fade is on.

Open an account today at Pinnacle Sports and take advantage of their -104 style pricing on sides and totals, which is 60% better than other sportsbooks.



Our Pick

Chicago +144 (Risking 2 units - To Win: 2.88)

Follow us on Twitter or Facebook and receive instant notification when all picks have been posted.

Chicago +167 over Ottawa