CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS @ CALGARY FLAMES
Ice Hockey : North America : NHL
Friday, November 18th, 2011, 9:00PM US
(2:00AM GMT)

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PREVIEW

These two teams have very different records, reflecting the gulf in class. Chicago come in with a 12-4-3 record while the Calgary Flames are 7-9-1. Chicago have had Calgarys number in recent meetings, winning 15 of 19.

The last meeting came only last week, with Chicago winning 4-1. I have not seen anything change since then, and have had a few winning bets on Chicago against teams better than Calgary.

The Blackhawks powerplay has been excellent, especially since this was an area they were poor in earlier. Their recent run of wins spans 4 games, and they have converted on 6 of the 14 chances they have had with a man advantage. Calgary, conversely, have failed to score on their last 17 powerplay opportunities!

Patrick Kane is one to look out for tonight, as he leads the team in assists with 16 and has a team best 24 points for the Blackhawks, double than accumulated by Calgary's best player.

Crawford has been excellent too between the pipes and the Blackhawks are giving up less on the road on average than they are overall. Calgary are worse defending at home than on the road. Calgary are scoring just 1.78 goals per home game, meaning they will be lucky to score more than they did in that last meeting.

I don't think anything has changed since last week and am happy to take Chicago to win this one comfortably.

BETTING VERDICT

Take Chicago to win in regulation.

The Pick :

Chicago Blackhawks

HANDICAP BETTING :

Take Chicago -0.5 (regulation time) @ 2.47 (Pinnacle)