Blackhawks vs. Devils Odds
| Blackhawks Odds | +330 |
| Devils Odds | -430 |
| Over / Under | 6.5 -112 / -110 |
Oddsmakers are listing New Jersey as the overwhelming favorite for Friday's contest, which makes it tempting to consider the high potential that would come with a bet on the Blackhawks, but is there any actual reason to believe in Chicago? Let's preview the upcoming contest and offer a Blackhawks vs. Devils prediction.
Chicago Blackhawks
Let's start by examining why oddsmakers see Chicago's chances of winning as bleak. The Blackhawks are 11-24-2 going into Thursday's action, and will have to play the second leg of a back-to-back on the road after facing the Rangers on Thursday.
Chicago also has a laundry list of players on injured reserve, including forwards Andreas Athanasiou (groin), Anthony Beauvillier (wrist), Joey Anderson (shoulder), Taylor Hall (knee), Tyler Johnson (foot), Taylor Raddysh (groin) and defenseman Seth Jones (shoulder). The Blackhawks have more Taylor/Tyler's on IR (three) than they have players with double-digit goals (two).
It's not like Chicago had offensive depth to spare. The Blackhawks still have Connor Bedard, who is having an excellent rookie campaign with 15 goals and 33 points in 37 contests, but what do they have outside of him? At this stage in the campaign, 112 NHL players have recorded at least 25 points, so the average team should have around 3.5 players at or above that threshold. However, Bedard is the only member of the Blackhawks who has crossed that mark.
Looking at the team's goaltending doesn't make the situation appear any better. Petr Mrázek will start Thursday against the Rangers, so Arvid Söderblom — who has a 2-12-1 record, 4.07 GAA and .874 save percentage — will presumably be in net against the Devils.
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New Jersey Devils
Söderblom is going to have a tough time containing New Jersey. The Devils are missing key players too in defenseman Dougie Hamilton (pectoral) along with Timo Meier (abdomen), Tomáš Nosek (foot) and Ondřej Palát (lower body), but New Jersey still has Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt healthy. Hughes and Bratt have each exceeded the 40-point milestone, and the Devils also have a solid supporting cast that includes Tyler Toffoli, Dawson Mercer, Nico Hischier, Erik Haula and Michael McLeod. New Jersey is the opposite of Chicago in that it has plenty of scoring to spare.
One aspect where these two teams are similar, however, is goaltending. Vítek Vaněček has disappointed this campaign with a 13-7-1 record, 3.35 GAA and .883 save percentage in 23 contests. He's done no better recently, posting a 3.40 GAA and an .880 save percentage over his last five outings. Nico Daws has shown promise since being summoned from AHL Utica, but he has just two starts under his belt with New Jersey this season and his .906 save percentage is nothing special, so it would be premature to label him as New Jersey's savior in net.
Can Chicago take advantage of New Jersey's lackluster goaltender despite the Blackhawks' shortcomings up front? Maybe. New Jersey has surrendered at least two goals in each of its last seven games and has held the competition to a single goal only twice all season, so there is history to suggest the Devils can't even hold back weak offenses. In fact, Chicago managed to score four goals against New Jersey on Nov. 5, though that was a healthier version of the Blackhawks in a game played in Chicago.
Blackhawks vs. Devils
Betting Pick & Prediction
With the current state of the Blackhawks, it's hard to rationalize betting on them, but the potential payout for taking New Jersey is so low that it's also an unappealing prospect. Instead, my favorite play would be to take the over of 6.5 goals. High scoring has become the norm for games featuring New Jersey of late, with five of the last six contests finishing with a score totaling seven or more goals.
When you factor in the poor goaltending to be featured Friday, particularly from Söderblom, along with the Devils' strong offense, I think there should be enough here to overcome Chicago's typical scoring deficiencies.
Pick: Over 6.5 goals -114 (play to -120)
