NHL Betting: Chicago Blackhawks vs. Vancouver Canucks: May 7th 2009

Chicago Blackhawks vs. Vancouver Canucks
Free Pick: Vancouver Canucks +1.5 (-230)
Thu May 7th 2009 8:05p - Courtesy of Mike Rose
Visit Touthouse.com for more NHL Hockey Betting Picks

The Canucks are knocking at the door of Lord Stanley’s Cup for the second time in three seasons thanks to the heroics of G Roberto Luongo. Save a complete dud in Game 2 of this series, the net-minder has been absolutely awesome through this entire postseason. He held the Blues to just five goals in a four-game sweep, and has picked up the slack of an offense that has been lacking of late. C Hendrik Sedin is the only Canuck to get on the scoreboard in all three games in this series. His brother, Daniel assisted on all three goals. The only offensive facet of the game that is really excelling for Vancouver is its power play. With the man advantage, the Canucks have scored at least one goal in all three games in this series, and the unit has scored five of Vancouver’s 11 goals.

If Chicago wants to level this series and have a legitimate chance of winning the Stanley Cup, G Nikolai Khabibulin simply has to play better. He has allowed at least three goals in all three games in this series and hasn’t pitched a shutout since the final game of the regular season. The Blackhawks did rank 4th in the NHL this season, averaging 3.2 goals per game, but the offense has had a difficult time putting this biscuit in the basket behind Luongo and will likely continue to struggle for the rest of the series. When the “Bulin Wall” led the Lightning to the Stanley Cup in 2004, he went 16-7 with a 1.71 GAA. He recorded five shutouts in that postseason, and was the catalyst to several Tampa Bay victories. The Chicago defense has done a solid job keeping shots away from its goalie, as Vancouver is only mustering 25.0 shots per game in this series, so it’s up to Khabibulin to make his defense look better.

Tonight is absolutely do or die for the Hawks. There’s no way they’re going to be able to win two games at General Motors place to win this series. It’s hard to bet against Luongo and the Canucks though, as at least right now, they appear to be the superior team. Chicago may win this game and level the series out of desperation, but it’s hard to see how the Hawks can win it by more than one goal.