NHL Hockey Betting: Winnipeg Jets at Chicago Blackhawks

Both teams are coming in playing yesterday but this second of back to back games situation is dramatically different for each team. For Winnipeg, they’re coming in off a solid 6-4 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets–they’re 4th win in six games and they’re sixth in their last ten. The Chicago Blackhawks are coming in after getting blasted by the Nashville Predators 5-1 in a game that wasn’t as close as the final score indicated. The Predators were swarming early on but weren’t getting any bounces in the first five minutes of the game. They would eventually put 3 in the net in a first period during which they outshot Chicago 18-7 but it easily could have been 5-0 after one. Pekka Rinne made 36 saves though the one goal he did allow was to Patrick Kane, which extended his scoring streak to 24 games.

The Jets are currently without goaltender Ondrej Pavelec but have weathered the storm nicely with the combination of rookie Connor Hellebuyck and Mike Hutchinson. Hutchinson will get the start tonight facing Corey Crawford, who got the night off last night and watched the Predators rough up teammate Scott Darling. With six points separating the 2nd place through sixth place teams in the Central Division–everyone is chasing red hot Dallas at this point–this is a very important game. The Blackhawks are currently in fourth place, one point behind Nashville and one point ahead of Minnesota. The Jets are in sixth place but just six points out of second.

Winnipeg has given the Blackhawks fits in recent years. Chicago is 6-5-0 in the last eleven meetings with the Jets but Winnipeg holds a 4-2-0 advantage at the United Center. The teams have split two meetings so far this season with each winning on home ice. Neither team has done well against their Central Division rivals this year–the Jets are 3-8 against divisional foes while the Blackhawks are 3-5.

Chicago has been very good at home this year (10-3-1) but the price is just too high given the team’s relative form. The name of the game in sports betting is value and the value here is on the road team.

BET WINNIPEG JETS +170 OVER CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS