Chicago Blackhawks vs New Jersey Devils Prediction: Expect a Total Over

Prediction for the NHL Chicago Blackhawks vs New Jersey Devils match, which will take place on April 2. Check the team conditions and choose several betting options.

Chicago is having a very weak regular season. That's unsurprising; the club has been undergoing global personnel rebuilds for several years. The Hawks still had decent stretches throughout the season, but their results were very poor over the distance. In the second half of March, they stopped playing, so they haven't been able to pick up a single point in seven straight contests, losing to their opponents with little chance of succeeding. As a result of their poor start, Chicago dropped to last place in the Western Conference standings.

New Jersey is another team that is no stranger to personnel changes. More recently, the Devils also went through this challenging process, which gradually ended, allowing them to make tremendous progress. A year ago, the Red and Black did not play in the playoffs at all, but now they have guaranteed themselves a place in Cup Eight, and with a high probability, they will start the first round of the Stanley Cup at home. The team secured third place in the Eastern Conference standings the day before with a vital 2:1 win over the Rangers.

Chicago and New Jersey were comparable opponents all last years. Still, in the current regular championship, they became hopeless league outsiders, but Devils made huge progress, being in the top 3 of the Eastern Conference. Moreover, the team has stopped fighting and thus suffered a 7-game losing streak in which they lost at least two pucks each time. Now it should be something similar, so we should bet on New Jersey to win with a handicap (-1.5).

Surprisingly, Chicago and New Jersey have few goals in their head-to-head encounters. Still, the spectators always get a solid showing at the United Center with plenty of scoring chances. In the previous four such battles, the Hawks and Devils scored 39 goals (9.75 per game average). With that in mind, we expect a total over 6.5 pucks, and we should also bet on Ondrej Palat's 0.5-point total.