The Chicago Blackhawks return home from a woeful west coast trip that saw them lose to Vegas and Anaheim in uninspiring efforts. The storied Montreal Canadiens come to the United Center Sportsbooks of three of their last four games with this game Sportsbook as a pick’em. The total opened at 6.
- Montreal is 1-7 SU in its last 8 games when playing on the road against Chicago.
- Chicago has just one win in its last nine games.
- Montreal is 4th in the NHL with 34.3 shots on goal per game.
Canadiens vs Blackhawks Game Center
What’s Next?
The firing of Joel Quenneville as head coach was not the solution that the once mighty Blackhawks were searching for. Since firing Joel Quenneville, the Hawks have gone just 3-10-2 under rookie head coach Jeremy Colliton.
The normal progression of these disasters is coaching change, trades, GM fired. So it seems that the next attempt to get out of this funk will be some player movement but Chicago’s roster will be status quo when they welcome the fast and improved Montreal Canadiens tonight.
Chicago is Giving Up a Ton of Shots
The Hawks are allowing 33.7 shots per game, which is fifth-worst in the NHL. On top of that, they have the second-worst penalty kill at 73.3 percent. Only the Ottawa Senators have been worse when short-handed this season.
It’s no surprise, then, that the Hawks have the No. 30 scoring defense in the league at 3.7 goals against per game, again, only better than the Ottawa Senators. At least the Senators are scoring 3.47 goals per game – Chicago has only managed 2.73 goals per game, better than only five other teams.
My Bet for Tonight
Montreal is taking the 4th highest amount of shots per game (34.3), which is bad news for Chicago’s goaltending. Montreal is coming off a couple of games against the Senators where they scored five goals each night and had 41 and 43 shots respectively. The Habs have taken over 40 shots in five straight contests.
I’m backing the Canadiens on the moneyline tonight as they’re averaging four goals per game over their last four games. I also think this game will go OVER the total of six goals.
