Chicago Showing Progress
The Arizona Coyotes aim to continue their success at Mullett Arena when they face the improving Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday night in a matchup of teams with eyes toward next season.
The Coyotes have enjoyed two long points streaks in 2023, including a nine-game run (5-0-4) from Jan. 26-Feb. 19 and their current streak of seven (5-0-2) after a 3-2 win over Vancouver at home Thursday.
The Blackhawks, like Arizona, are far out of the Western Conference wild-card race and could have as many as eight picks in the first three rounds of the upcoming draft. However, Chicago beat NHL-best Boston 6-3 on Tuesday and held on to win 2-1 at Nashville on Thursday.
The teams each have a red-hot scorer. All-Star Clayton Keller leads Arizona with 72 points and boasts six goals to go along with seven assists in his past seven contests. Chicago’s Taylor Raddysh had a hat trick versus Boston and boasts six goals over the last five contests.
Blackhawks Building
First-year coach Luke Richardson has been forced to mix and match his lineup with new players through trade and injuries, but Chicago is still 3-2-1 in the last six contests.
Veteran goalie Alex Stalock has played part, with three wins and a .942 save percentage in March. Stalock is 9-8-1 with a .922 SP on the season after stopping 35 of 36 shots against Nashville.
Forwards Boris Katchouk (five points, last four games) and newcomer Joey Anderson (five points, five contests) have helped as well while defenseman Seth Jones has 31 points overall, but none in his past five outings.
The under is 4-3-0 in the last seven Chicago Blackhawks games, according to NHL betting lines, and the Blackhawks are just 10-20-3 on the road overall.
Coyotes On The Prowl
Arizona has been a pretty good bet all season, going 39-30 ATS in the Las Vegas odds, and the Coyotes have been especially good at home with points in 22 of 33 games (19-11-3).
Special teams have not been a strength, but Arizona is 5-for-13 on the power play and 25-for-26 penalty killing the past six games after scoring twice with the man advantage Thursday and blanking Vancouver on five tries.
Travis Boyd scored twice Thursday to push his total to 14 on the season and fellow forward Lawson Crouse recorded his 22nd goal – second only to Keller’s 31 on the team.
The Coyotes are 11-4-6 overall since Jan. 26 and the over is 5-3-0 in their past eight contests if you are online gambling.
Blackhawks vs Coyotes Game Injuries
Blackhawks vs Coyotes Head-to-Head
Chicago has won two of the three matchups between the Central Division foes this season, but the Coyotes took the most recent meeting 4-1 on Feb. 28 at home.
Stalock notched a 2-0 shutout over Arizona on Jan. 6 and forward Andreas Athanasiou has four points in the three games for Chicago. Keller owns five points in the series for the Coyotes.
The Blackhawks are 5-2-1 in the last eight meetings and, at the sportsbook, the over is 7-3-1 the past 12 games at Arizona.
Blackhawks vs Coyotes Game Information
- Game: Chicago Blackhawks (24-38-6) vs Arizona Coyotes (26-32-11)
- Day/Time: Saturday, March 18, 10:30 p.m. ET
- Location: Mullett Arena, Tempe, Ariz.
- Blackhawks vs Coyotes Live Stream: NHL.TV
Blackhawks vs Coyotes Betting Lines
Blackhawks vs Coyotes Picks and Prediction
These games are always difficult to predict because both teams are playing free and easy, even though jobs and contracts may be on the line for some.
Arizona is 27th in the league in scoring (2.78) and Chicago last (2.51), so you would think the under would be a good bet. But the Blackhawks scored six against Boston earlier this week and the Coyotes are averaging almost 3 ½ goals during their points streak.
It might come down to goaltending. Ivan Prosvetov got the win in net Thursday, but Karel Vejmelka has won three of his last four decisions including the 4-1 victory over the Blackhawks on Feb. 28. Stalock likely gets the start for Chicago and his backup is veteran Anton Khudobin, who has not played an NHL game since Jan. 15, 2022 with Dallas.
If you are betting online, we think the Blackhawks will at least keep it close.
The Blackhawks are listed at +125 in our Vegas NHL lines. This means that if you wager $100 on Chicago, you have a chance to win $125. The Coyotes are -145, offering a chance to win $69 on a $100 wager. The implied probability attached to the betting lines gives the Blackhawks a 44.44% chance to win, with Arizona at 59.18%.
Blackhawks vs Coyotes Trends
Blackhawks vs Coyotes Edge
Blackhawks vs Coyotes Results
Blackhawks vs Coyotes Game Summary
