We’ve got a full day of hockey to look forward to on Sunday, with a seven-game slate starting at lunchtime. Favorites had a day yesterday, with seven of the eight betting favorites winning, covering the puckline in six of those contests. With most of the games getting underway in the afternoon, there’s no time to waste.
These are the wagers we’re looking at from FanDuel Sportsbook.
The Calgary Flames are in a similar position as the Jets, with their schedule being amended to facilitate COVID-19 limitations in Canada. The bigger issue is, the Flames have substantially overachieved relative to their metrics on the road this season and are due for regression. That benefits the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday night, as they look for a few well-deserved victories.
The Flames have the second-best points percentage as the visitors this season, going 12-4-2. Their success is contraindicated in their expected goals-for percentage, as they rank 22nd in the league. Consequently, Calgary is skating around with a bloated 1.034 PDO at five-on-five, putting them on track for a few letdown performances.
The opposite is true for the Blackhawks. Chicago is underachieving relative to their metrics and should progress over their coming games. Over the past 12 games, the Hawks have posted an expected goals-for percentage above 50.0% at five-on-five eight times. However, Chicago has only accumulated five wins over that span. That’s analogous to the Hawks’ season, as they remain below expected values, posting the fourth-worst PDO. The Blackhawks haven’t been as bad as their record implies, and they should improve over their coming games.
The betting price is likely to continue to shift in the Flames’ favor as we approach puck drop, meaning a better price awaits those who can wait patiently. Nevertheless, we’re taking a stance on the Hawks tonight, as both teams are headed for a correction.
The Picks: Blackhawks +160
All NHL predictions and picks are courtesy of SportsGrid.
