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NHL Free Pick: Blackhawks vs. Predators Betting Lines & Preview

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Weekly NHL Betting action sees the Chicago Blackhawks taking on the Nashville Predators April 23 at Bridgestone Arena. Cappers Picks provides free NHL handicapping tips all season long.

From serious Cup contender to the brink of elimination in the first round of the playoffs – that’s where the Nashville Predators find themselves as they return home to play Game 5 of their series with the Chicago Blackhawks.

Daily NHL Hockey Odds

Blackhawks lead series 3-1
Chicago (51-29-3-3) at Nashville (48-26-6-6)
When: 9:30 PM ET, Thursday, April 23, 2015
Where: Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, Tennessee
Broadcast: NBCSN, SN360, TVA3, CSN-CH, FS-TN
Chicago Blackhawks +1½ -310 +100 Ov 5 -130
Nashville Predators -1½ +260 -110 Un 5 +118
***2015 NHL BONUSES***
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The Blackhawks took a stranglehold on the series Tuesday night with a 3-2 triple-overtime win in Chicago. That makes nine losses in their last 10 games for Nashville – not exactly a good sign for a team with their back clearly up against the wall.

The Chicago Blackhawks seem to be pushing all of the right buttons in the series – rookie Scott Darling has been a savior in goal and two players acquired at the trade deadline have paid serious dividends the last two games. Has Chicago been dominant? No. Do they deserve to have a 3-1 series lead? Yes.

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Let’s start with Scott Darling who has come out of nowhere to become one of the biggest stories in the playoffs thus far. He stopped 50 of 52 shots on Tuesday night and now has a .969 save percentage with an average of 42.3 saves per game in the series – all wins.

He has beaten the Predators four straight times he’s faced them – once in the Regular Season and three times in the playoffs. Darling is the difference maker that Nashville was counting on with Pekka Rinne.

The Chicago offense has been good in the series – they are averaging 3.25 goals per game and they possess a top line that the Preds seemingly have zero answer for. The line of Jonathan Toews, Marian Hossa and Brandon Saad has been terrific – they are a threat each and every time they are on the ice.

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Hossa has three points in two games and Saad has two points in two games. The line has been more dangerous than the numbers suggest – perhaps they are due for an explosion Thursday night.

Patrick Kane has four points in the series so far, Patrick Sharp has three points in four games and Antoine Vermette who sat out Game 1 has a goal in each of the last two games. Things are going well for Chicago in both ends of the rink – they are awfully tough to stop right now.

Defensemen have played a huge roll in Chicago’s offensive success thus far – Duncan Keith has four points in the series and Tuesday night’s hero Brent Seabrook has three points in his last three games.

The Nashville Predators have to be losing a little confidence – don’t they? After all, they are 1-7-2 in their last 10 games and just can’t seem to get rewarded even when they play a solid game.

They have scored just as many goals as Chicago, they have outshot the Hawks by an average of eight shots per game and their power play is exactly on par with their opponent in the series and yet they still find themselves in a big, big hole.

We can point at the defense and goaltending to derive a reason as to the struggles. They have allowed a staggering 3.70 goals per game during their unflattering 10 game stretch and Pekka Rinne is 8-13-4 with a .903 save percentage in his last 25 games – not good.

Rinne did play well Tuesday night – perhaps a good sign for Nashville as we head into Game 5.

The Nashville offense has been doing its part in the series although the numbers are skewed a tad with Preds scoring six time in Game 2. They have tallied 13 times although nine of those goals came against Corey Crawford who is sitting on the bench right now.

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Craig Smith has five points in three games and Colin Wilson has four points in four games but outside of those two Nashville hasn’t done a lot outside of the 6-2 win.

NHL Gambling Trends

• NAS are 1-10 in their last 11 vs. Central.
• NAS are 1-9 in their last 10 overall.
• Over is 8-2-3 in NAS last 13 overall.

The Predators have dropped seven of nine playoff games. Chicago has won six of eight meetings this season – they may just be in the heads of the Preds right now. Nashville has lost nine of their last 10 games overall and have lost 10 of their last 13 games on home ice- not good.

NHL Betting 4* Free Play

The writing is clearly on the wall for Nashville – bet on the Hawks putting the final nail in the coffin Thursday.

Chicago Blackhawks +100

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By DaveB

Dave B has been a Fantasy Football writer for us for 10 years. A couch potato wannabe, Dave’s insights have been read by 10’s of people for years. He hope’s for world peace + global relaxation. Enjoy and remember only smoke things that are completely natural.