The Vegas Golden Knights will try to stay unbeaten in postseason play and go up 3-0 on the Chicago Blackhawks as large favorites again on Saturday.
- Date/Time: August 15, 8 p.m. ET
- Arena: Rogers Place
- TV Coverage: NBC
- Sportsbook Odds: Golden Knights -182 | O/U 6 (Line History)
- Knights vs Blackhawks Matchup Report
Sportsbook Odds Analysis
The public continues to back the favored Golden Knights over -200 in early betting action at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark, and why not? Vegas has dominated Chicago in the all-time series, winning 10 of the 11 meetings dating back to the team’s inception in 2017, according to the OddsShark NHL Database. Chicago still remains fade material.
Vegas News & Notes
If it ain’t broke, why fix it? At least that is what Golden Knights head coach Peter DeBoer must be thinking when it comes to their goaltending situation between Robin Lehner and Marc-Andre Fleury.
While Lehner was not overly impressive in Thursday’s 4-3 overtime victory, he did improve to 7-0 and held the Blackhawks without a goal in the first and third periods. Fleury has been the face of the franchise since its inception, but he will be ready to go either in this game or Sunday as the team plays a back-to-back situation.
The key here obviously is that Vegas just keeps on winning and owns Chicago historically as well.
Chicago News & Notes
The Blackhawks are searching for answers after letting one slip away in Game 2, especially after scoring three second-period goals. They battled back and nearly pulled off the upset, although they have yet to hold a lead in either of the first two games.
The Golden Knights have jumped out to 2-0 leads both times, so it would be interesting to see what might happen if they did not score the first goal of the game.
In Chicago’s lone win in the series during the regular season last November 13, Vegas also led 2-0 before giving up five unanswered goals. However, Fleury was between the pipes for the Golden Knights in that one, as he suffered through one of his worst performances of the season.
Betting Pick: OVER 6
Game 2 was more of what bettors have come to expect from Vegas and Chicago in these playoffs, with them combining for four goals in the second period and seven overall.
The Blackhawks seem to be figuring out former teammate Lehner a bit, and they have gotten to Fleury too, so their confidence should be improving. Whether or not that will translate to the first win for Chicago remains to be seen, but you should expect another shootout.
- VGK is 10-1 SU in last 11 games vs CHI.
- The OVER is 8-3 in past 11 games in this matchup.
- Robin Lehner has a 2.50 GAA in 4 playoff games.
