Blackhawks vs Wild Betting Preview: Division Rivals Face-Off Friday Night
Lowly Blackhawks Head North to Battle Wild in Central Division Clash
Friday Night’s NHL Action pits two hated rivals in the Central Division as the Minnesota Wild host the Chicago Blackhawks in downtown Saint Paul. Let’s analyze this Western Conference battle with the Blackhawks vs Wild Betting Preview for Friday night.
Game Information
Chicago Blackhawks (7-17-4, 18 points) at Minnesota Wild (16-11-2, 34 points)
Date & Time & Streaming:
Location: Xcel Energy Center, Saint Paul, Minnesota
Streaming: Live Sports Stream
Minnesota Wild Rising Back Towards Playoffs
The Minnesota Wild look to earn two more points tonight at Xcel Energy Center as they take on their rivals, the Chicago Blackhawks. Last game, the Wild beat the Detroit Red Wings by a 4-1 final score, giving Minnesota their third consecutive win and victories in nine of their last twelve contests.
Forward Frederick Gaudreau scored a pair of goals in the game, one to start the contest off on the power-play and an empty net tally to seal the win for the Wild. Superstar Kirill Kaprizov adds another point to his total with a second period assist on a Mats Zuccarello goal.
The young Russian now has 36 points over 29 games played and at least one point in 16 of his last 17 games. With the victory, Minnesota has now jumped out of the NHL standings wild card and into third place in the Central Division, trailing the second place Winnipeg Jets by only five points heading into tonight’s slate of action.
Chicago Blackhawks Battered and Beaten
The Chicago Blackhawks play their second leg of a back-to-back on Friday as they take on their rivals up north in the Minnesota Wild. Just last night, the Blackhawks lost their fifth straight game in a 4-1 drubbing to the Vegas Golden Knights.
Forward Taylor Raddish scored late in the third period to snap Vegas goalie Logan Thompson’s bid at a shutout. The Blackhawks have now been held to one goal or fewer in four of their last five contests and since October 27th, have a record of 3-15-4 in their last 22 games.
Goaltender Arvid Soderblum made 21 saves on 24 shots faced last night, and while he still continues to give up big rebounds after making quality saves, the young Swedish netminder is still making slow improvements in his game while not having a strong blueline corps in front of him.
Blackhawks vs Wild Betting Odds
Sportsbooks have the hosting Minnesota Wild odds to win as gigantic favorites against the visiting Chicago Blackhawks on Friday night priced in the range around -395 to -410. This is one of the largest priced favorites thus far in the National Hockey League season, which usually tends to drive bettors to look at NHL picks against the spread to avoid the high money line price.
This is the 21st game this season where Minnesota has been favored, with the Wild winning 13 of their first 20 games in that role. For Chicago, it’s their 31st game of the season as an underdog, with the Blackhawks losing 23 of their first 30 games when lined at plus money.
Minnesota has dominated Chicago recently, winning six straight meetings including five of the last six at Xcel Energy Center. The Hawks have lost 16 of their last 20 road games and are winless in seven division games this season.
Concluding our Blackhawks vs Wild Betting Preview: The total for this contest is set at 6 goals shaded slightly to the Over round the pick’em range between -110 to -115. Chicago has had a very tough time scoring multiple goals in games as of late, being held to just one goal or fewer in four of their last five games overall while being held scoreless in each of their last two road contests.
Minnesota has gone Over the total in eight of their last eleven games including an 7-2 run in the last nine games versus Western Conference opponents.
Check out all the updated Minnesota Wild and Chicago Blackhawks lineups, future odds, stats, recent news and betting tips, right here at Point Spreads.
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