Properly, lastly, we’re off the schneid with that over victory final night time on the basketball courtroom.
Now we transition again to the best sport on earth with an over/below name on the matchup between the Utah Hockey Membership and the Chicago Blackhawks.
Curiously, these two Central Division rivals simply engaged in a last-second minor commerce earlier than at the moment’s deadline. In trade for dealing a fifth-round choose to Utah, the Blackhawks acquired a few children and retired defenseman Shea Weber’s contract.
Chicago additionally made a transfer earlier within the day, transport out former beginning goalie Petr Mrazek and heart Craig Smith to Detroit for Joe Veleno.
Total, the rebuilding Blackhawks made a number of transactions this month, and one in every of their latest additions shall be entrance and heart for this complete tonight. New goaltender Spencer Knight—whom the group acquired from Florida final week—shall be between the pipes as he pushes to win the beginning job after settling for second fiddle behind Sergei Bobrovsky.
Knight simply made his Blackhawks debut Monday night in opposition to the Los Angeles Kings, and he was phenomenal, stopping 41 of 42 photographs to say a 5-1 victory.
The argument could possibly be made that whereas he was nonetheless with the Panthers, Knight was thought to be among the best backup goalies within the sport and on the verge of breaking out if given an opportunity to begin usually. His story is one in every of perseverance, having left his former group in February 2023 attributable to a battle with obsessive-compulsive dysfunction. He went on to overlook final season as properly.
In his return to the NHL this yr, Knight has been terrific, posting a 13-8-1 file with a 2.34 goals-against common and a .912 save proportion. That GAA ranks him inside the highest 5 within the league, and he has additionally notched a pair of shutouts.
The previous first-round choose could have a robust alternative for an encore, as Utah ranks tied for twenty second amongst all 32 golf equipment with 2.82 objectives per sport.
In the meantime, Karel Vejmelka will get one other begin for Utah, marking a uncommon back-to-back for the 28-year-old netminder. He performed final night time within the Hockey Membership’s victory over the Pink Wings, shutting the door on 38 of 40 photographs.
Vejmelka is having fun with the perfect yr of his four-year profession, holding a 17-16-4 file with a 2.44 GAA and a .912 save proportion. Most notably, that is his first time with a win-loss file above .500, and he has been so spectacular that Utah simply rewarded him with a five-year contract extension after final night time’s sport.
Maybe the brand new contract will present a bit of further juice to Vejmelka’s efficiency tonight.
He has the appropriate opponent to have a good time in opposition to. Chicago is as soon as once more mired in a tricky marketing campaign, sitting one spot from the Western Convention cellar and producing fewer photographs per sport (24.6) than some other group within the league.
Choose: Below 6 (-110, BetMGM)
NHL betting file: 31-24-3, +1.9 models
Over/Unders: 18-18-3
Goalie props: 13-6
Every guess is graded as if it have been to win one unit.
Observe me @MattZylbert on Twitter/X for potential further picks.