NHL Predictions and Betting - Toronto Maple Leafs at Chicago Blackhawks

The Toronto Maple Leafs and the Chicago Blackhawks will both be trying to pick up a win on Friday night when they battle at 8:30pm EST from the United Center in a game that can be seen on CSNC. NHL predictions at online sportsbooks currently have the Blackhawks -210 money line favorites against the Maple Leafs while the game's total is sitting at 6 UNDER -120. Phil Kessel and Alexei Ponikarovsky scored for Toronto in their 5-2 loss to the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday night. Minnesota cashed as +125 road underdogs while the game resulted in a PUSH on the 6-goal total in NHL betting.

Toronto saw their 2-game winning streak ended when they allowed three unanswered goals in the second period against the Wild. Alexei Ponikarovsky and Phil Kessel each had goals for the Leafs but it wasn't enough to hold off Minnesota even when playing at home. "We didn't play a full 60 minutes and at times we looked really flat. We can't play like that in our own building," said Toronto forward Matt Stajan after the loss. Coming into this NHL match-up against the Blackhawks on the road, Toronto has a NHL betting record of 3-8-5, are 2-8 after a loss and 2-5 after playing Minnesota.

Patrick Sharp hit a snapshot from 165-feet out for a shoot-out winner to lift the Blackhawks to a 3-2 win over the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday as -170 NHL betting favorites while the teams played UNDER the posted over/under of 5.5 at online sportsbooks. Sharp had previously been 4-17 in his career at shoot-outs and couldn't find the net in the first two games this year against Colorado. "Sometimes they go in, sometimes they don't," Sharp said. "I thought I had better puck control this time. The other times, I was focusing more on the shot and not hanging onto that puck." The Blackhawks are 10-5-2 in NHL odds on the season, 5-5 after a win and 7-3 after playing Colorado. Bet Chicago as -210 favorites in NHL predictions against Toronto.

Lanning's NHL Betting Picks: There really is no case for taking Toronto in tonight's match-up against Chicago based on how they have been playing. To make things even worse, the Maple Leafs are 2-8 when playing on Friday's while the Blackhawks are 4-6. My NHL pick for this match-up is to take Chicago at home against Toronto. Vegas odds at the MGM Mirage sportsbook have the Chicago Blackhawks -200 favorites in NHL betting predictions against the Toronto Maple Leafs +170 with a total of 6 UNDER -120.