The Minnesota Wild are still alive in their Western Conference Playoff series with the Chicago Blackhawks. Game 4 is scheduled for a 9:30 p.m. start time and it will be televised nationally on the NBC Sports Network. Currently the odds for the game have the Blackhawks as a heavy favorite.
Kind of a head-scratching line in this one here. The Blackhawks are the NHL's best team, probably, but after they dropped Game 3 in Minnesota, why are we making them such a big favorite to win Game 4? Minnesota wasn't great against Chicago in Game 3, but they were able to win the game in overtime. That now marks two of the three games in this series going into the extra session.
If the Wild are playing the Blackhawks that well through three games, why should Chicago be favored this heavily in Game 4? We don't like the line.
Chicago was a very good team on the road this season, scoring a record of 18-4-2 away from home. But Minnesota was a pretty good team in home games themselves, having a record of 14-8-2 this year.
Minnesota is a much more physical team than Chicago has been this year and the Blackhawks are going to want to bang around tonight. Minnesota has been bringing the intensity in every game in this series and if the Blackhawks don't bring the same level tonight they could be looking at at tied series.
The Blackhawks have only one goal, by Marian Hossa, from their first line.
Corey Crawford has been playing well in net for Chicago, saving better than 93 percent of the shots he's faced so far in addition to having a goals against average lower than 2.00 in the three games. His counterpart, Josh Harding, has not played poorly for Minnesota. He needs to continue to keep Chicago at bay and off the scoreboard tonight.
Zach Parise leads the Wild with 12 shots on goal in the series and scored in the team's only win. Jason Pominville hasn't played yet in this series but when he does it will be a plus for Minnesota. They need him on the ice and without him in the lineup, Minnesota is missing a clear goal-scorer.
Yet, when it comes down to it we like Minnesota to win this game tonight. They have a lot of talent for being an eighth seed and we think they get it done as an underdog at home tonight. Look for this series to be tied 2-2 heading back to Chicago.
Free Pick: Minnesota 3, Chicago 1
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