As two of my three selections fell final night, the final of which came from fashion, I couldnt recover my momentum from a 2-0 Wednesday night.
Before the match needed a shootout with the two clubs knotted in threes afterwards overtime as Boston Bruins and the Tampa Bay Lightning went back-and-forth the night really got off to a beginning. The Lighting obtained a Steven Stamkos target late in the shootout as we struck on the Lighting at +100 odds that were nice in this particular one, while Andrei Vasilevskiy stood tall.
The night went downhill from there. After getting the first goal of the match, the Winnipeg Jets went on to lose their third straight home game by a 3-1 count and will allow the three markers. The offense just isnt clicking right now and I had been bitten by it on two of the last few nights.
Eventually, my very final pick of the night between Coyotes and the Predators lost as the total went thanks — you guessed it — an empty-netter. We sat with a push into the third period however a Carl Soderberg empty-netter secured our fate and gave us during the previous three.
It has been a week to this point, but lets enter the weekend on a high note in Chicago Blackhawks from the United Center in Chicago and a matchup between the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Season Record: 6-7
Components: -1.85
Odds courtesy of Bovada
Blue Jackets vs. Blackhawks Betting Odds:
Blue Jackets (+120)
Blackhawks (-140)
More than 6.5 (-105)
Under 6.5 (-115)
Blue Jackets vs. Blackhawks NHL Pick
Because the Blackhawks and Jackets ass heads in the United Center, its a meeting from the Windy City tonight.
Columbus enters this one riding high after winning consecutive games that are 3-2 across the Hurricanes and Stars, a much-needed mini win streak after dropping three of those four matches of this season. John Tortorellas group has a lot to establish after dropping Artemi Panarin Sergei Bobrovsky, Matt Duchene along with Ryan Dzingel to unrestricted free agency in the offseason. Of late, they have been much better.
Scoring goals remains an issue. The Blue Jackets passes this one yelling tied for 28th with just 2.33 goals per game over the season and while they have been improved against a couple of weaker offenses over the last 3 games, they have still allowed 3.33 goals per match on the back end. Goaltending has been a problem so much following GM Jarmo Kekalainen decided against upgrading the position after Bobrovskys departure, instead handing the keys to Joonas Korpisalo. It appears the beginning of tonight will actually go while Korpisalo has been better of late.
Obviously, said begin didnt go well. Merzlikins was torched by the Pittsburgh Penguins to the song of seven goals on 40 shots, good to get an .825 Sv% within his NHL debut. While we do not know much about Merzlikins in an NHL standpoint, we do know that he put in some great work from the Swiss-A league for a few months prior to taking his talents abroad. Merzlikins submitted a solid .921 Sv% in Switzerland in each of the previous two seasons , but he found out that the NHL is a whole new ball game.
Merzlikins will come face to face with keep whats a Chicago Blackhawks offense at bay inside this one. They have reach their stride this season because they sit with an 3 goals per match regardless of the standard surge in October scoring remember this has been the league offense from a season ago. The gifted quarter of Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Dylan Strome and Alex DeBrincat ought to find the Blackhawks back into the top 10 this season while Erik Gustafsson is all the sudden one of the most effective defensemen in the league out of an offensive standpoint.
On the rear end, the Blackhawks are adequate when allowing 3.25 goals per match, a number that puts them right in the center of the league. But its been in their penalty kill thats hurt them the most as they position 30th with an ugly 61.5% mark over the PK, nevertheless for tonight the great news is the Blue Jackets power play has scuffled a tiny bit having a 16.7% roster, good for a share of 23rd along with the Vancouver Canucks.
In four games played this season, the Blackhawks have allowed just six even-strength goals against. Their blueline was updated from the Hurricanes with Olli Maatta in the Penguins and Calvin p Haans Distinct trade acquisitions in the offseason from a defensive perspective. The hope is that the Blackhawks can be greatly improved in their 30th-ranked defense in the season ago.
They upgraded their goaltending position with Robin Lehner who is coming off a season with the New York Islanders in the offseason. Lehner has made only one start this season, but may really get start number two from those Blue Jackets. In his lone start of the year, Lehner let three goals on 33 shots in a 3-2 overtime loss to the Winnipeg Jets. Despite getting nearly all of his notoriety past year, Lehner has ever been a really great goaltender during his nine-year NHL profession as he possesses a .918 Sv and has been at .920 or better in 3 of their four seasons. He just was not enjoying for winning teams while with Buffalo Sabres and the Ottawa Senators. To me, theres very little doubt about who gets the benefit in this one.
All told, Im about the Blackhawks tonight. A season-opening three-game losing run snapped using a rock-solid 3-1 win on the white-hot Edmonton Oilers, handing them their first loss of the season in the procedure. They outshot the in that individual. I like the looks of this offense and I cant help but believe that they have a huge chance tonight after being torched in his only appearance this season, with no goaltender who can not be playing with much confidence. I figure they can eclipse that mark awarded to the circumstances, although theyve scored at least three goals in each game this year.
The Blue Jackets are better particularly on the rear end, but protecting the Blackhawks at the United Center could be a difficult undertaking and I believe that the Blackhawks offense is about to split out. That will not be great news for Elvias Merzlikins and Co. as I am taking the Blackhawks to win that one about the moneyline tonight.
Read more here: http://www.iamfreda.com/2019/10/18/rafael-nadal-withdraws-from-shanghai-masters-due-to-wrist-injury/