Chicago Blackhawks vs Detroit Red Wings Prediction: Best Bet for Thursday
Chicago is 0-4-0 on the road and allows 3.67 goals per game, the kind of profile that turns a rivalry game in Detroit into a long night. The Red Wings are no powerhouse at 5-4-3, and Thursday is really about whether the league's most fragile road team can keep one game honest for sixty minutes.
The Matchup
Chicago's season splits cleanly in two. The Blackhawks are 4-4-0 at home and 0-4-0 on the road, and they allow 3.67 goals per game while scoring 2.17, a -1.50 differential that is the worst on the Thursday slate. Roman Kantserov has a team-high 5 goals and Patrick Kane leads Chicago with 8 points and 7 assists, a scoring base far too thin for a team that defends like this. When Chicago falls behind away from home, there is no second wave to pull it back.
Detroit is an ordinary team in a good spot. The Red Wings are 5-4-3, score 2.58 goals per game and allow 2.92, and Alex DeBrincat leads them with 13 points and a team-high 6 goals while Lucas Raymond has 8 assists. Detroit is 3-3-1 at Little Caesars Arena, nothing imposing, but it does not need to be imposing here.
The Red Wings' injury list is longer: Marco Kasper and Mason Appleton are on injured reserve, and goaltender Daniil Tarasov is day-to-day with an undisclosed injury. Keep an eye on whether Tarasov plays before placing a bet, because his 1.40 goals-against average and .940 save percentage in limited work are Detroit's best crease numbers, well ahead of John Gibson's 3.44 and .867.
Key Factors
Chicago's power play is the worst kind of bad for an underdog: 10.3 percent, too weak to punish Detroit for the penalties a home favorite takes when it presses. Detroit converts 21.4 percent, and Chicago kills 78.4 percent, so the special-teams trade favors the home side without being a rout. Detroit's own penalty kill is a genuine concern at 65.9 percent, but a kill only gets tested if the opponent earns power plays and finishes them, and Chicago does neither on the road.
The crease is the honest risk in laying a margin with Detroit. Gibson has been ordinary, and Spencer Knight is at 3.23 and .897 for Chicago, which is better than his team's results suggest.
If Knight steals the first period, Detroit's modest 2.58 goals per game can stall and turn this into the kind of 3-2 game Chicago keeps almost winning at home. The road version of Chicago has not produced that game yet, though. Four trips, four losses, and a defense allowing nearly four a night is the profile this pick is priced against.
Chicago has lost every road game it has played and gives up goals in bunches, and Detroit has the finishers to turn that profile into a margin at home. The Red Wings are flawed, but this matchup asks little of them beyond playing their normal game. Take the Detroit Red Wings -1.5 at +142.
Game information
| DATE | Thursday (10/29) |
|---|---|
| START TIME | 6:30 PM CT |
| HOW TO WATCH | NHL |
| VENUE | Little Caesars Arena |
| SPREAD | Detroit Red Wings -1.5 |
| TOTAL | 5.5 |
| MONEYLINE | Detroit Red Wings -180 |
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