Nicely, lastly, we’re off the schneid with that over victory final night time on the basketball court docket.
Now we transition again to the best recreation on earth with an over/beneath name on the matchup between the Utah Hockey Club and the Chicago Blackhawks.
Curiously, these two Central Division rivals simply engaged in a last-second minor commerce earlier than at present’s deadline. In change for dealing a fifth-round decide to Utah, the Blackhawks acquired a few children and retired defenseman Shea Weber’s contract.
Chicago additionally made a transfer earlier within the day, delivery out former beginning goalie Petr Mrazek and heart Craig Smith to Detroit for Joe Veleno.
General, the rebuilding Blackhawks made a couple of transactions this month, and one in every of their latest additions will likely be entrance and heart for this complete tonight. New goaltender Spencer Knight—whom the group acquired from Florida final week—will likely be between the pipes as he pushes to win the beginning job after settling for second fiddle behind Sergei Bobrovsky.
Knight simply made his Blackhawks debut Monday night towards the Los Angeles Kings, and he was phenomenal, stopping 41 of 42 photographs to say a 5-1 victory.
The argument may very well be made that whereas he was nonetheless with the Panthers, Knight was thought to be top-of-the-line backup goalies within the recreation and on the verge of breaking out if given an opportunity to start out recurrently. His story is one in every of perseverance, having left his former group in February 2023 on account of a battle with obsessive-compulsive dysfunction. He went on to overlook final season as effectively.
In his return to the NHL this yr, Knight has been terrific, posting a 13-8-1 document with a 2.34 goals-against common and a .912 save share. That GAA ranks him inside the highest 5 within the league, and he has additionally notched a pair of shutouts.
The previous first-round decide could have a powerful alternative for an encore, as Utah ranks tied for twenty second amongst all 32 golf equipment with 2.82 objectives per recreation.
In the meantime, Karel Vejmelka will get one other begin for Utah, marking a uncommon back-to-back for the 28-year-old netminder. He performed final night time within the Hockey Club’s victory over the Pink Wings, shutting the door on 38 of 40 photographs.
Vejmelka is having fun with the most effective yr of his four-year profession, holding a 17-16-4 document with a 2.44 GAA and a .912 save share. Most notably, that is his first time with a win-loss document above .500, and he has been so spectacular that Utah simply rewarded him with a five-year contract extension after final night time’s recreation.
Maybe the brand new contract will present a bit further juice to Vejmelka’s efficiency tonight.
He has the correct opponent to have fun towards. Chicago is as soon as once more mired in a troublesome marketing campaign, sitting one spot from the Western Convention cellar and producing fewer photographs per recreation (24.6) than another group within the league.
Choose: Underneath 6 (-110, BetMGM)
NHL betting document: 31-24-3, +1.9 models
Over/Unders: 18-18-3
Goalie props: 13-6
Every wager is graded as if it have been to win one unit.
Observe me @MattZylbert on Twitter/X for potential extra picks.
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