Although the Chicago Blackhawks and the Dallas Stars are having trouble finding consistency lately, but that shouldn’t diminish the excitement emanating from this sure-fire entertaining matchup. For one, both teams are tied atop the Central division with 88 points apiece. Read on for more about this game.
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TV Broadcast: CSNC (Local: CHI)/ FSSW (Local: DAL)
Betting on the Chicago Blackhawks (41-21-6)
Chicago continues to alternate wins with losses, as the Blackhawks followed up a nice 4-1 win over Detroit with a 3-2 road shootout loss to St. Louis on Wednesday. They’ll look to get back on track again later tonight when the Blackhawks play in Dallas, where they are 8-2 in their last 10 trips there.
The Blackhawks’ setback against the Blues highlighted Chicago’s fumbling penalty kill that has been a constant source of misery for the team. Chicago is just 24th in the league in penalty kill percentage (78.6%) and even managed to be worse over its last four games, wherein the Blackhawks have allowed their opponents to go 8-for-12 on the man advantage. That includes the Blues going 2-for-3 on the power play the other night.
Chicago, however, shut down all of Dallas’ six power play opportunities in a 5-1 win back in February 6.
Chicago is lucky it doesn’t have to face itself, as the Blackhawks are the best power play team in the league with their special teams converting 24.2% of their chances.
The Blackhawks, who are averaging 2.8 goals per game, are 5-5 in their last 10 road games.
Betting on the Dallas Stars (40-20-8)
Like Chicago, the Stars aren’t playing like a Stanley Cup contender of late. The Stars are just 3-5-3 over their last 11 games, a stretch that includes their 4-3 overtime loss to Montreal on Tuesday.
If there’s one thing that is going Dallas’ way, however, it’s the team’s rapidly improving penalty kill. The Stars are just 20th in the league with 79.9 PK%, but their last four opponents went just 1-for-12 on the power play. That should boost their morale heading into a high-profile contest with the defending champions later tonight.
Dallas’ offense has also taken a step back lately with the Stars averaging only 2.7 goals over their last seven games. They’re second overall this season with 3.2 goals for per game.
The Stars didn’t have much problem scoring against Chicago in the two team’s three meetings thus far this season, though. Dallas has outscored the Blackhawks, 10-6. Patrick Eaves leads the Stars with three goals against Chicago this season, while Jamie Benn tops the assists department with three. Benn and Tyler Seguin have combined for a grand total of zero goals thus far this month. They should find their scoring touch later tonight in order to help the team keep in step with the Blackhawks
