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Posted at 1:00 PM EST.

8:35 PM EST. OT included. We backed the Blackhawks last game out as a home dog to Colorado but there’s a big contrast between being a home dog in one game to this big a favorite in the next. Incidentally, Chicago lost 5-1 to Colorado that night but it’s not because they were outplayed. Chicago held a massive 72-52 Corsi For advantage during 5v5 play but ran into a super-hot Semyon Varlamov while their goaltender, Anton Forsberg was weak again. Tonight, the Blackhawks will use either Forsberg or J-F Berube and it really doesn’t matter which stiff they turn to because both are dreadful. Trust us when we inform you that the Blackhawks had the Avalanche under siege the entire night when they lost 5-1. Once again, goaltending was the difference. Chicago wanted to make life miserable for the Avs and played hard but we have to question their motivation here. It might be hard for the Blackhawks to bring that same intensity to this meaningless a game against another team going nowhere at this stage of the season. If the Blackhawks come in unprepared, they are a huge liability with that weak goaltending they possess and in the unlikely event that they bring that same intensity, they are still a risk because of the exact same reason they lost 5-1 to Colorado, 5-4 to St. Louis, 5-3 to Buffalo and 6-2 to Winnipeg in their last four games respectively.

The Canucks have dropped seven straight and were even shut out in three of those seven games but quit they have not. On paper, the Canucks are among the worst teams in the league but at this price against the Blackhawks, they’re very worthy of a bet because they bring it almost every night and they are very likely going to get the better goaltending here. Give us the better goaltender at prices like this and we’ll gladly take our chances. Here is what you may not know about Vancouver. They have been playing nose-to-nose with many opponents lately. That 5-3 loss to San Jose on Sunday was a very misleading results, as was their losses to the Kings, Knights and Ducks. Vancouver could’ve easily won any of those. Furthermore, the Canucks have played the #1 ranked schedule in the NHL and they are just seven games under .500 against the top-16 teams in the league.

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