The Stanley Cup playoffs continue tonight in Vancouver, and we’ve got a good NHL betting proposition on the game between the hometown Canucks and the Chicago Blackhawks.  Vancouver won the first game of the series in Chicago, the Blackhawks have won the next two games and the series shifts back to the Windy City following tonight’s Game 4 at GM Place.  We had some interest in playing the Blackhawks here, but an even stronger position appears to be the total in the game.  By the way, we’re not showing preferential treatment for the Blackhawks in this matchup but the Canucks apparently don’t have ice girls!

CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS VS. VANCOUVER CANUCKS:

At the outset of this series, the battle lines were obvious–it would be won or lost on the defensive end.  Both teams can score goals in bunches–the Canucks ranked #2 and the Blackhawks #3 in goals per game during the regular season–but both have serious questions on the other end of the ice.  For Chicago, the question is their goaltending–the Blackhawks play very good defense but many NHL observers don’t think that either Antti Neimi or Cristobal Huet are solid enough to win a Stanley Cup.  The Canucks, meanwhile, have no questions about their goaltender–Roberto Luongo is one of the best in the business.  Their question concerns the quality of the defense they play in front of him.  Luongo frequently faces a lot more shots than he should, and you can only get away with that for so long.

So we’ve got a matchup between teams that score goals but sometimes struggle to keep their opponent from doing the same.  The Blackhawks have 4 Overs and a push in their last 5 games, the Canucks have 6 Overs and a push in their last 7.  Vancouver isn’t the type of team that can win a defensive battle, and if they’re going to make a series out of this they have to score goals.  During the playoffs, the average total in Canucks games has been 6.88 goals per game.  The head to head series here has been very evenly contested–the teams have split the last 10 games at GM Place.  Only 3 of those games have gone Under the total with 6 Over and 1 push.  Looking for another high scoring contest here.

PLAY VANCOUVER/CHICAGO OVER 6 +105