Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Chicago Blackhawks Prediction, NHL Odds
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Nik Kowalski
Pittsburgh’s dropped three consecutive games, including a 5-2 loss Wednesday versus Florida which dropped the Pens to second-last in the Metropolitan Division standings and seven points behind the East’s final playoff spot. The 14-36-3 Blackhawks are, as always, playing spoiler but Thursday presents an opportunity for Chicago to crawl out of last in the NHL. Now whether that’s a good motivator is up for debate, but one thing’s for certain: the Blackhawks skaters won’t be tanking.
Puck drop at United Center is set for 8:30 p.m. ET with the road Penguins a -156 moneyline favourite to win and the total at six on the NHL odds.
Penguins vs. Blackhawks NHL Betting Odds
The Penguins haven’t been able to break out offensively and it’s costing them. So far this season, Pittsburgh ranks 25th with 2.9 goals per game and recently they’ve gone 12 straight games without scoring more than three times. Pittsburgh’s collected three wins in that stretch. But the Blackhawks say hold my beer, scoring a total of eight goals over their current seven-game losing streak. Chicago’s dead last in the NHL with 2.08 goals per game and remain without their star rookie Connor Bedard (who’s rumoured to return next week from his broken jaw).
The Blackhawks are a much better team on home ice though, collecting 10 of their 14 wins this season at home. Pittsburgh’s last road win came on January 8, so Thursday’s a nice spot for an upset — or better yet the under with these teams’ offensive attacks.
Pittsburgh Penguins
Wednesday’s 5-2 defeat complicated matters for Pittsburgh with one of their potential top trade chips. Forward Jake Guentzel exited the in the final period with an upper-body injury. This also makes Guentzel’s status for Thursday in Chicago uncertain. Guentzel is tied with Sidney Crosby atop Penguins point-getters with 52. Crosby’s gone without a point in two straight games.
Tristan Jarry manned the crease Wednesday for the Pens which lines up Alex Nedeljkovic to get the start at Chicago in this back-to-back-spot. Nedeljkovic has performed slightly better this season, going 8-4-3 with a .917 save percentage but in his last three starts Pittsburgh is winless.
Chicago Blackhawks
Although the Blackhawks have scored just 15 times in their 13 games since Connor Bedard went down, head coach Luke Richardson said they’ve been proud of the team’s effort as of late. But that’s all the nice things that can be said about Chicago. They were outshot 12-2 in the first period of Tuesday’s loss versus Vancouver. It was a multi-goal loss that quickly turned into Petr Mrazek facing heavy fire in Chicago’s net yet again. Mrazek stopped 34 of 38 shots faced in the game and although he’s now allowed over 100 goals this season, his .909 save percentage is quite respectable for being on a team as putrid as the Blackhawks.
With a goal Tuesday, Tyler Johnson became the fourth Blackhawks skater to reach double-digit goals this season. Johnson’s one point shy of becoming the seventh Blackhawks skater to 15 points this season, another sad statistic.
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