The Vegas Golden Knights and Chicago Blackhawks meet Thursday in NHL action at the United Center. The Vegas Golden Knights have won 5 of their last 8 games. The Chicago Blackhawks have lost 8 of their last 9 games.

The Vegas Golden Knights are averaging 3.2 goals per game and are scoring on 22.1 percent of their power play opportunities. Jonathan Marchessault leads Vegas with 14 goals, Chandler Stephenson has 21 assists and Jack Eichel has 100 shots on goal. Defensively, the Vegas Golden Knights are allowing 2.7 goals per game and are killing 74.4 percent of their opponent’s power plays. Logan Thompson has given up 54 goals on 647 shots faced, and Adin Hill has allowed 29 goals on 313 shots.

The Chicago Blackhawks are averaging 2.4 goals per game and are scoring on 23.8 percent of their power play opportunities. Max Domi leads Chicago with 10 goals, Patrick Kane has 17 assists and Philipp Kurashev has 51 shots on goal. Defensively, the Chicago Blackhawks are allowing 3.7 goals per game and are killing 73.3 percent of their opponent’s power plays. Petr Mrazek has given up 41 goals on 323 shots faced, and Arvid Soderblom has allowed 38 goals on 403 shots.

The Golden Knights are 14-3 in their last 17 road games and 22-10 in their last 32 overall. The Blackhawks are 19-43 in their last 62 home games and 14-37 in their last 51 overall. The under is 7-3-1 in Golden Knights last 11 overall. The over is 5-2 in Blackhawks last 7 home games. The Golden Knights are 5-2 in the last 7 meetings in Chicago and 14-4 in the last 18 meetings. The favorite is 12-4 in the last 16 meetings. The home team is 5-1 in the last 6 meetings.

The Vegas Golden Knights remain one of the more impressive teams in the league up to this point, and they’ve actually done some of their best work on the road. The Chicago Blackhawks continue to go nowhere fast, and they’re one of the worst teams in the league at both ends of the ice. My only option here is to side with the Golden Knights and the PL for max betting value.