NHL Picks: The St. Louis Blues visit the Chicago Blackhawks and the Vancouver Canucks play at the Pittsburgh Penguins in two of the best matchups in the NHL this week. The Blues and Blackhawks game is on Wednesday night on NBCSN while the Canucks and Penguins will play on Thursday night. Let’s look at the two games and NHL picks.
St. Louis Blues at Chicago Blackhawks (NBCSN)
This game on Wednesday is the rivalry matchup that can be seen on NBCSN. Both teams are battling with Nashville for the top spot in the Central Division. The Blues are 7-4 on the road this season so they have been a good underdog to bet on when on the road. They are averaging 2.6 goals per game and allowing 2 goals per contest. The Blackhawks are 7-4 at home this season. They are averaging 3 goals per game and allowing 2 goals per contest.
The Blackhawks have won six of the last ten in this series but they did lose 3-2 in St. Louis back in late October. It has been a home team series as the Blackhawks have won 8 of the last 10 in Chicago including the last five. Three of the last four in the series have gone over the NHL betting total.
NHL Predictions
We’ll go with the Blackhawks to get this win on Wednesday.
Vancouver Canucks at Pittsburgh Penguins
The Canucks have been solid on the road this season as they won 9 of their first 13 games on the road. They did lose in Detroit on Sunday and they also had to play in Washington on Tuesday so they could be a little road weay. It won’t be easy to win in Pittsburgh as the Penguins had won 7 of their first 11 home games. Pittsburgh was second in the league in goals per game at 3.4 and 6th in fewest goals allowed at 2.3 per game. The Canucks are just behind the Penguins in terms of offense as they are averaging three goals per game but they are well back of Pittsburgh in terms of goals allowed as Vancouver is allowing 2.6 goals per contest.
The teams have split their last ten overall with the last three going over the NHL betting total. Much of the Canucks’ success came years ago as they have lost the past four in this series with their last win coming in 2010. They have not won in Pittsburgh since 2008.
NHL Pick
We’ll look for this game to go under the total.
