NHL Free Pick: Blackhawks vs. Predators Lines and Preview
Blackhawks lead series 1-0
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Weekly NHL Betting action sees the Chicago Blackhawks taking on the Nashville Predators April 17 at Bridgestone Arena. Cappers Picks provides free NHL handicapping tips all season long.
The Nashville Predators played about as well as they could through the first half of Game 1 against Chicago but it still wasn’t meant to be. After jumping out to a 3-0 lead the struggling Preds surrendered four straight goals en route to a 4-0 double OT defeat. Nashville has now lost seven straight games and now face the reality that one of the most dominant teams of the decade has a chance to put a real stranglehold on the series.
Daily NHL Hockey Odds
Chicago (49-28-3-3) at Nashville (47-25-5-6)
When: 9:30 PM ET, Friday, April 17, 2015
Where: Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, Tennessee
Broadcast: NBCSN, SN, SN360, TVA3, CSN-CH, SPSO
Chicago Blackhawks +1½ -310 +101 Ov 5 -124
Nashville Predators -1½ +260 -111 Un 5 +113
Perhaps the Blackhawks got lucky in Game 1 but the experience edge that they own against Nashville was further magnified in the come-from-behind win. Chicago didn’t panic and methodically clawed their way back despite an ugly effort by Corey Crawford and a slow start but the offense.
The best news, outside of Wednesday’s result for Chicago is that goaltender Corey Crawford may have gotten his bad game out of the way. He allowed three goals on 12 shots and was pulled from the net after looking totally out of sorts. Backup Scott Darling emerged to steal the game with 42 saves in nearly 68 minutes of action. Prior to Game 1 Crawford had a 1.78 GAA and .944 save percentage in his previous four starts – as good as he had been all season long.
Expect Crawford to rebound Friday – he absolutely has to be better.
Chicago’s offense was as advertised – dangerous when given the chance. Patrick Kane played 23 minutes and recorded two assists, Patrick Sharp, Jonathan Toes, Nick Hjalmarsson and Duncan Keith scored and Keith, Toews, Marian Hossa and Kane all had multi-point games. This is the Hawks time of the season – scary if you are a Predators fan.
The Nashville Predators seem to be finding new ways to lose- seven straight losses and 10 losses in their last 12 games at home is definitely reason for alarm. So is the play of Pekka Rinne who looked OK Wednesday night but wasn’t able to be the difference maker that the Predators so require. Rinne has lost his last five starts with a 3.24 goals-against average and .871 save percentage – yikes!
Offensively the guns for Nashville failed to show up – Mike Ribeiro, Filip Forsberg, James Neal and Mike Fisher were all held pointless in the game – Fisher’s availability is in question after leaving in the second period of Wednesday’s game. That said, Nashville did score three times on the second best defense in the NHL but the defense and goaltending let them down.
NHL Gambling Trends
• Under is 5-2-1 in CHI last 8 Fri. games.
• NAS are 0-8 in their last 8 vs. Central.
• Over is 6-1-3 in NAS last 10 overall.
• Over is 6-1-2 in NAS last 9 vs. Western Conference.
There simply isn’t a whole lot to love about Nashville right now – they have been awful at home and have now lost seven straight games overall. Chicago smells blood – they gained a ton of confidence with every waning moment of Game 1. I expect the bleeding to continue Friday and for the most experienced and perhaps most professional team in the NHL to take full advantage. Without Pekka Rinne in absolutely top form this series is a mismatch!
NHL Betting 4* Free Play
Chicago Blackhawks +101
