Well, lastly, we’re off the schneid with that over victory final evening on the basketball court docket.
Now we transition again to the good recreation on earth with an over/below name on the matchup between the Utah Hockey Club and the Chicago Blackhawks.
Interestingly, these two Central Division rivals simply engaged in a last-second minor commerce earlier than right now’s deadline. In trade for dealing a fifth-round decide 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.
Overall, the rebuilding Blackhawks made a number of transactions this month, and considered one 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 might be made that whereas he was nonetheless with the Panthers, Knight was considered probably the greatest backup goalies within the recreation and on the verge of breaking out if given an opportunity to begin usually. His story is considered one of perseverance, having left his former group in February 2023 resulting from 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 former first-round decide could have a powerful alternative for an encore, as Utah ranks tied for twenty second amongst all 32 golf equipment with 2.82 objectives per recreation.
Meanwhile, Karel Vejmelka will get one other begin for Utah, marking a uncommon back-to-back for the 28-year-old netminder. He performed final evening within the Hockey Club’s victory over the Red Wings, shutting the door on 38 of 40 photographs.
Vejmelka is having fun with one of the best 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 evening’s recreation.
Perhaps the brand new contract will present a little bit additional juice to Vejmelka’s efficiency tonight.
He has the fitting opponent to have fun in opposition to. Chicago is as soon as once more mired in a troublesome marketing campaign, sitting one spot from the Western Conference cellar and producing fewer photographs per recreation (24.6) than another group within the league.
Pick: Under 6 (-110, BetMGM)
NHL betting file: 31-24-3, +1.9 items
Over/Unders: 18-18-3
Goalie props: 13-6
Each guess is graded as if it had been to win one unit.
Follow me @MattZylbert on Twitter/X for potential further picks.