Anaheim Ducks vs. St. Louis Blues Prediction, Preview, and Odds
Two teams heading in opposite directions will square off when the St. Louis Blues face the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday at 7:00 p.m. in the Enterprise Center. The Blues are riding a three-game winning streak heading into this contest and they are four points behind Vegas for the final wild-card spot. Meanwhile, the Ducks are 3rd to last in the conference with 49 points in 67 games and they have lost their last five in a row. St. Louis is the heavy favorite at a -210 money line while the total is set at an even six goals.
Sign of Life in St. Louis?
The Blues managed to gain another two points with a 3-2 shootout victory against the Minnesota Wild in their latest outing. Jordan Kyrou had a goal and an assist while Brayden Schenn also scored for St. Louis. The two had the highest number of shots on goal with four and five respectively while Jordan Binnington made 22 of 24 saves.
Robert Thomas has the most points with 71 (50 assists, 21 goals) and Thomas edges out the other offensive players with a +8. Pavel Buchnevich leads the squad in penalty minutes with 44 and goals with 24, and Thomas is the only forward to average more than 20 minutes of ice time per game. Pavel Buchnevich has the lead with seven power play goals and Thomas has 16 power play assists on the year. Kyrou is also the leader in shots by far with 204 while the player with the next most has only 171. As a unit, St. Louis ranks 26th in scoring with only 2.78 goals scored per game. They are averaging 28.6 shots per game (25th) and their power play is at a 17.2% success rate (25th in NHL). St. Louis has a 49.1% win rate in the face-off circle, ranking 21st in the league.
Torey Krug has the most points among defensemen with 33 and is second overall on the team with 30 assists. Colton Parayko has the most goals scored among defenders with nine and has the most ice time with an average of 23:46. Nick Leddy has a +12 while Tyler Tucker has 27 penalty minutes to his name. Torey Krug is the only defender so far to eclipse 140 shots among blue-liners with 143 and Justin Faulk is the only defender to have scored on the power play for the Blues so far. Eleven of Krug's assists have come on the power play this year as well. St. Louis is 26th in shots against, surrendering an average of 32.3 per contest, yet they are 17th in the NHL in goals against with a 3.01 goals against average. The Blues have been average on the penalty kill, ranking 18th and killing off 78.9% of penalties. Jordan Binnington is registering a 2.82 GAA and a 91.3% save percentage as the starting goalie. Joel Hofer has similar stats with a 2.80 GAA and a 91.5% save percentage, albeit in less games. Fortunately for the Blues, there is nobody listed on the injury report heading into this contest.
Ducks Down Bad
The Ducks were beaten handedly by the Winnipeg Jets in their most recent contest, losing by a score of 6-0. Frank Vatrano registered the most shots on goal with five while Jakob Silfverberg had three shots on goal. Nobody else had more than two. John Gibson made 32 of 38 saves in the effort.
While the Ducks are showing some signs of promise after their disastrous season last year, they still have a long way to go. As it stands, they are ranked 28th in shots against with an average of 33.0 per game. Their penalty kill is ranked 30th with a 73.6% kill rate, and they are 31st in goals against per game with 3.63. Both John Gibson and Lukas Dostel have split time in net, with Gibson playing in more games so far. Gibson has a GAA of 3.38 compared to Dostal's 3.57, but Gibson has an 89.2% save percentage while Dostal has a 90.0% save percentage. Cam Fowler has the most points among defenders with 31 including 27 assists. Radko Gudas has the best +/- ratio among defenders with a +12 while also leading the team with 124 penalty minutes. Cam Fowler has logged the most ice time on average with 24:35 per game and he leads the squad with 13 assists on the power play. Fowler has the most shots among defenders with 91, while Gudas has six goals to his name.
On the offensive side, Frank Vatrano has the most points overall with 50 including 29 goals but Troy Terry has a team-high 29 assists. Jakob Silfverberg has a forward-high +2 and Ross Johnston has a forward-high 106 penalty minutes. Alex Killorn has spent the most time on the ice per game among offensive skaters with 18:38. Eleven of Vatrano's goals have come on the power play and Troy Terry is third on the team with seven power play assists. Vatrano leads the squad with 210 shots overall. As a unit, the offense ranks 30th in goals scored per game at 2.51. They are also 23rd on the power play with a 18.6% success rate, but their face-off percentage is a poor 47.9%, ranking 24th in the NHL. Anaheim will need to put up more shots as well, as they are ranked 29th with 27.1 per game. Six players are listed on the injury report for Anaheim. Mason McTavish is questionable with a lower-body injury while Gudas is questionable with an upper body injury and Max Jones is questionable with an illness. Trevor Zegras will return in late March after dealing with an ankle injury, Brock McGinn is out indefinitely with an upper-body injury and Leo Carlsson is out until late March with an upper body injury.
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Best Bets
Full-Game Side Bet
Rating:
All signs point to the Blues taking an easy win over the Ducks in this contest. St. Louis has won their last five games in a row against the Ducks, and all those wins were by at least two goals. The Blues have a much better record at home compared to on the road and Anaheim is on a losing streak while the Blues are riding a winning streak and have playoff hopes in sight. St. Louis has much more to play for and they are injury-free while the Ducks are missing some key players on their roster due to injury. The Blues have a 37-30 record ATS this season to top it off.
Prediction: St. Louis Blues -1.5 (+120)
Full-Game Total Pick
Rating:
St. Louis has hit the under in four of their last five games overall, with the one exception resulting in a push. They are 7-0-3 on the under in their last ten and they are 7-3 on the under in their last ten meetings against the Ducks. The only reason Anaheim has been hitting the overs somewhat as of late is their inability to stop the opposing offense from scoring. They have given up 6+ goals in four of their last five games played, but I don't believe that trend will continue. Anaheim has scored a total of only three goals in their last four games and they haven't scored more than two goals in their last seven contests. St. Louis has a record of 37-24-6 on the under this year and Anaheim has hit the under in the majority of their games as well. I have confidence that St. Louis will control this game through their defense and the Ducks won't be able to score enough to reach the over.
Prediction: Under 6
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