The Boston Bruins are 24 hours removed from beating Detroit, but they'll have no issues dismantling a poor Chicago side.
NHL
The Chicago Blackhawks host the Boston Bruins this evening at the United Center at 7:30 p.m. ET.
Chicago once again finds itself at the bottom of the NHL standings, and my Bruins vs. Blackhawks predictions believe these woes will continue.
Read on for my NHL picks for Wednesday, December 4.
My best bet
Bruins -1.5 (+170 at DraftKings)
My analysis
The only reason this return is so large for the Boston Bruins is because they’re on the second half of a back-to-back following last night’s 3-2 overtime victory over the Detroit Red Wings.
While it’s certainly a disadvantage to have traveled from Boston to Chicago following an overtime game in just 24 hours, I think the market has over adjusted.
This is still the Chicago Blackhawks, arguably the worst team in hockey. Boston has certainly had its own issues this season, but it’s still the stronger team in every category across the board.
It doesn’t matter whether you look at this disparity statistically or analytically, the Bruins have the edge in all three zones. Offensively, they rank higher in goals scored per game, shots on goal per game, and xGF/60.
Defensively, Boston outranks Chicago in goals allowed per game, shots on goal allowed per game, and xGA/60.
That just leaves the goaltending matchup, which is perhaps the only way the Hawks can steal this game as they’re slated to start Petr Mrazek against the Bruins’ Jeremy Swayman.
With that said, Swayman has started to figure things out recently with a .929 SV% and 1.78 GAA over his past four starts.
Bruins -1.5
Brad Marchand anytime goalscorer
Elias Lindholm Over 0.5 assists
I want to fade the Blackhawks at 5-on-5, where they rank 24th in xGA/60. Enter Brad Marchand, who leads the Bruins with seven even-strength goals this season.
Someone is likely to assist on that goal, and there is no better candidate than Elias Lindholm, who skates alongside Marchand on both the second line and first power play unit.
Learn how to bet a same-game parlay with these helpful tips and strategies.
Boston has won three of the past four meetings between these two teams, with all three of those wins coming by at least a two-goal margin. Find more NHL betting trends for Bruins vs. Blackhawks.
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Tony Sartori has written over 1,000 pieces of sports betting content across multiple different media outlets. He covers the NHL, UFC, PGA, NFL and MLB. Tony started part-time while attending the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he went on to receive a B.A. in Economics and a certificate in Entrepreneurship in 2022. He continues to work full-time in the sports betting landscape.
Due to the variety of sports he covers, Tony is handicapping every day. If he had one piece of betting advice for a new sports bettor, it would be to strictly enforce bankroll management rules for yourself. If you set aside $10,000 for your betting bankroll, then you should generally only be betting between $100 – $500 per play.
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