Chicago Blackhawks vs Florida Panthers preview

The Chicago Blackhawks and the Florida Panthers are two teams who have not been up to the mark in the first quarter of the season. The two teams have clashed on 19 occasions with their November 26 match being the latest. Of those 19 games, Chicago have won 12 while Florida have won 6 with one draw between them. According to SkyBet The Chicago Blackhawks are favourites at 8/11 while you can get 10/3 for the match to end in a draw. Meanwhile the Florida Panthers are down at 11/4.

The Blackhawks were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs in the past two years. They made some offseason moves but retained a core group of players. A group that includes goalie Corey Crawford, defensemen Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook, winger Patrick Kane and center Jonathan Toews.

Meanwhile the Panthers are improving, courtesy their top line consisting of Aleksander Barkov Jr. and wingers Jonathan Huberdeau and Evgenii Dadonov. Barkov is regarded as on of the most skilled players in the NHL. When it comes to shootouts, Barkov is in his element. He led the NHL with seven shootout scores last season. Over the past 3 years, Barkov boasts of a 14-of-19 record in shootouts.

In the November game, the only player to actually find the back of the net for Florida was Jared McCann. On the other end of the spectrum, Toews, Kane, Brandon Saad and John Hayden scored in a 4-1 victory over their southern opponents. Both teams have had up and down seasons but the Blackhawks have won their last 2 games against the Buffalo Sabres and the Arizona Coyotes. The Panthers on the other hand have lost 2 against the New York Islanders and Colorado Avalanche. They also won one game against the Winnipeg Jets. They will be facing the Detroit Red Wings before the clash with Chicago.

Who will win this tie? The odds are stacked in favour of Chicago owing to their previous success and their winning record against Florida.