Hockey Today
SCOREBOARD
Thursday, April 30
Chicago at Vancouver (9 p.m. EDT). The Blackhawks and Canucks open their second-round series. Chicago beat Calgary in six games in the opening round, while the Canucks have had nine days off since sweeping St. Louis.
SELECTED
Washington star Alexander Ovechkin is a finalist for a second straight Hart Trophy as the NHL’s most valuable player. Fellow Russians Evgeni Malkin of Pittsburgh and Pavel Datsyuk of Detroit also were selected as finalists announced Wednesday. The winner will be revealed June 18 at the NHL awards show in Las Vegas.
SWITZERLAND
Kristian Huselius scored at 1:59 of overtime to give Sweden a 6-5 comeback victory over the United States on Wednesday in the world championship in Bern, Switzerland. The single point was enough for the Americans to win Group C and avoid facing Russia just 18 hours later in the second round. The U.S. will play France on Friday.
SURGERY
Philadelphia captain Mike Richards will have surgery Friday to repair a torn labrum in his right shoulder, and also needs surgery on his left shoulder and faces 10 to 12 weeks of rehabilitation. Richards had 30 goals and 50 assists this season.
SCOUTING
Calgary Hitmen forward Brett Sonne was honored Wednesday as the Western Hockey League player of the year. The 19-year-old Sonne was third in the WHL scoring race with 48 goals and 52 assists in 62 games, and had a plus-minus rating of plus-39. The St. Louis prospect helped Canada win the world junior championship and has led the Hitmen to the WHL championship series against Kelowna. … Justin Shugg had three goals, and Andrei Loktionov had two in the Windsor Spitfires’ 10-1 victory over the visiting Brampton Battalion on Wednesday night in Game 1 of the Ontario Hockey League finals.
SPEAKING
“The frustration is overwhelming. We owe an apology to our fans and our ownership. … Everything will be evaluated. There’s nothing that’s off the table. This is going to be a tough, painful summer, and it should be.”—San Jose general manager Doug Wilson on Wednesday, two days after the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Sharks’ season-ending loss to Anaheim in the first round.
CHICAGO (50-27-0-11, 111 pts.) at VANCOUVER (49-27-0-10, 108 pts.)
Top Trends for this game.
CHICAGO is 64-121 ATS (+215.5 Units) in a road game where where the total is 5 or less since 1996.
VANCOUVER is 18-13 ATS (+0.2 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record this season.
CHICAGO is 10-3 ATS (+6.4 Units) in April games this season.
CHICAGO is 27-13 ATS (+41.1 Units) when playing with 2 days rest over the last 2 seasons.
CHICAGO is 24-11 ATS (+9.0 Units) after a win by 2 goals or more this season.
CHICAGO is 25-10 ATS (+11.1 Units) after scoring 4 goals or more in their previous game this season.
CHICAGO is 45-39 ATS (+98.0 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record over the last 2 seasons.
VANCOUVER is 19-32 ATS (-29.8 Units) in home games in April games since 1996.
VANCOUVER is 134-145 ATS (-72.4 Units) in home games second half of the season since 1996.
VANCOUVER is 7-13 ATS (-14.9 Units) in home games when playing with 3 or more days rest over the last 3 seasons.
VANCOUVER is 52-77 ATS (-37.6 Units) in home games when playing against a team with a winning record in the second half of the season since 1996.
Head-to-Head Series History
VANCOUVER is 8-4 (+2.1 Units) against the spread versus CHICAGO over the last 3 seasons
VANCOUVER is 8-4-0 straight up against CHICAGO over the last 3 seasons
7 of 9 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3
CHICAGO vs. VANCOUVER
Chicago is 10-3 SU in its last 13 games
Chicago is 4-2 SU in its last 6 games on the road
Vancouver is 17-5 SU in its last 22 games when playing Chicago
Vancouver is 11-2 SU in its last 13 games when playing at home against Chicago
Chicago at Vancouver
Chicago:
24-11 SU after a win by 2+ goals
25-10 SU after scoring 4+ goals
Vancouver:
7-13 SU at home when playing with 3+ days rest
4-15 SU coming off an OT win
NHL Playoffs
Vancouver swept Blues in four straight, while Chicago needed six games to dispatch Calgary, outscoring Flames 9-2 in last two games. Vancouver is 12-4 against Chicago the last four years, but teams split four contests this season. Blackhawks lost six of last eight visits to British Columbia, as well as six of last eight serues games played here. Under is 9-3-3 in last fifteen series games, 5-1-1 in last seven games here. Blues were just 1-24 on power play vs Vancouver in the first round.