In what’s already their last head-to-head meeting of the regular season, the Philadelphia Flyers and the Chicago Blackhawks collide at the United Center. NBC Sports Philadelphia will showcase this East-West matchup, which gets going at 8:30 p.m. ET on Thursday, October 24.
Philadelphia Flyers at Chicago Blackhawks Odds
Chicago (-115) is tabbed as the favorite over Philadelphia (-105), and oddsmakers have set the Over/Under (O/U) at 7 goals. If gamblers want to wager on this game’s total, they’ll be looking at odds of -110 money on the over and -110 for the under.
Philadelphia is 3-4 straight up (SU) and has lost 1.6 units for moneyline bettors thus far. That early-season SU winning percentage is a drop-off from what the team recorded during last year’s regular season (37-45). Through seven regular season outings, four of its games have gone under the total, while three have gone over and none have pushed. The Flyers are 0-3 SU as an away team in 2019-20.
Philadelphia has found the net on 27.6 percent of its power play chances so far. That’s a good step forward from last season, when it was ranked 23rd in the league by scoring on 17.1 percent of its extra-man advantages. Its penalty kill has fallen off noticeably year-over-year, however, as the team’s gone from successfully defending 78.5 percent of all opponent power plays (ranked 26th overall last season) to 75.0 percent this year.
Philadelphia, as a collective unit, has been penalized just 3.1 times per game in the 2019-20 season, a number that’s improved from the 3.7 penalties per game given up last year. After serving an average of 8.9 penalty minutes per game a season ago the team has had to stave off opponent power plays for only 6.7 minutes per outing this year.
Sporting a .890 save percentage and 19.4 saves per game, Carter Hart (2-3-1) has been the primary option in goal for Philadelphia this year. If Philadelphia chooses to rest him, however, the team could go with Brian Elliott (1-2), who has a .925 save percentage and 2.56 goals against average this year.
Travis Konecny and Oskar Lindblom will both spearhead the attack for the visiting Flyers. Konecny has 10 points on four goals and six assists this season while Lindblom has four goals and two assists to his credit through the early stages of the regular season.
On the other bench, Chicago is 2-5 straight up (SU) and has lost 3.4 units for moneyline bettors thus far. Through seven regular season outings, four of its games have gone under the total, while three have gone over and none have pushed. The team is 2-4 SU at home this year.
Chicago has scored on 13.6 percent of its power plays this year after converting on 20.0 percent (ranked 14th in league) last season. It’s killed off a remarkable 73.9 percent of its penalties, compared to 73.0 percent a year ago (when it was ranked 31st in the NHL).
Chicago skaters have been penalized 3.4 times per game this season. Last year, that number was at 3.1, the third-best mark in the NHL. After serving an average of 7.3 penalty minutes per game a season ago the team has been forced to kill penalties for 7.1 minutes per contest this year.
Corey Crawford has stopped 28.8 shots per game as the primary selection in goal for Chicago. Crawford has one win and three losses to his credit and has recorded a fairly-weak .891 save percentage and 3.58 goals against average this year.
The Hawks offense will be led by Patrick Kane (three goals, five assists).
Philadelphia Flyers at Chicago Blackhawks Betting Predictions
Free NHL Pick: SU Winner – Blackhawks, O/U – Over
Betting Trends
- The total has gone under in four of Chicago’s last five outings.
- The Flyers are 1-0 SU in games where they serve more penalty minutes than their opponent while the Blackhawks are 0-4 SU when they serve more minutes than the opposition.
- Chicago ranked 16th last year with 7.5 takeaways per game, but the team seems to be applying more pressure on opposing offenses to begin this season. It’s up to a ranking of third through seven games with 9.7 takeaways per contest.
