NHL Odds: Wild-Blue prediction, pick, how to watch
Tonight it is two Central Division rivals clashing as the Minnesota Wild travel to St. Louis to take on the Blues.It’s time to continue our NHL odds series with a Wild-Blues prediction and pick.
Minnesota is fighting for the top spot in the Central Division, sitting three points behind the Dallas Stars, and six points out of the top seed in the West. The Wild come into the game after falling 5-4 to the lowly Arizona Coyotes, but they are winners of seven of their past ten games. The Blues are in a situation where almost every game is a must-win, sitting 16 points out of the wild card with only 16 games left to play. Losers of seven of their last 10 games, the Blues look to get on track hosting Minnesota tonight.
Here are the Wild-Blues NHL odds, courtesy of FanDuel
NHL Odds: Wild-Blues Odds
Minnesota Wild: -1.5 (+160)
Over: 5.5 (-130)
Under: 5.5 (+106)
How To Watch Wild vs. Blue
TV: TNT
Stream: NHLPP
Time: 9:30 ET/ 6:30 PT
*Watch NHL games LIVE with fuboTV (click for a free trial)*
Why The Wild Could Cover The Spread
The offense for the Wild is starting to turn around. Going 10-3-1 in their last 14 games, even with the disappointment against the Coyotes, Minnesota is starting to get going. The offense has been one of the worst in the league, averaging only 2.81 goals per game on the season, ranking them 26th overall. Advanced stats according to MoneyPuck support how bad the Minnesota offense has been. They are ranked 22nd in the NHL in expected goals for this year and are 27th in goals above expected this year. Surprisingly, Kirill Kaprizov, Minnesota’s top scorer, being out of the lineup has not hurt the Wild. In the two games without their best scorer, Minnesota has managed to score nine goals.
Keeping Minnesota in the win column has been the goaltending play. Minnesota ranks 3rd in the NHL is goals against average, and ninth in the league in shots against this season. Their combined .919 save percentage also ties them for third in the NHL. Marc-Andre Fleury is going to get the start in net tonight, and his last three games have seen him only give up five goals, all in Wild wins. At age 38, Fleury is still producing and is a plus-value goaltender for this Wild team.
The power play should not be a major factor tonight for Minnesota. They are a middle of the pack power play team, but St. Louis is the least penalized team in the NHL. Minnesota is one of the higher penalized teams in the league, but have a solid penalty kill unit, and are facing a Blues squad that sits 22nd in the league on the Power Play. If Minnesota can keep up the goal-scoring they have without Kaprizov, and get good play from Fleury, they will win again tonight.
Why The Blue Could Cover The Spread
St. Louis was a major seller at the trade deadline, and continue their disappointing season. This is because of failures in all areas. The Blue are currently 19th in goals per game at 3.06. Much of this is due to inconsistencies on the offensive end. The Blues put up five goals against Columbus, four against San Jose, and six against San Jose on a different occasion. All of those resulted in recent wins. They also have two three-goal outputs, five two-goal outputs, and a one-goal showing in their last eight losses. In their last twenty one games, the magic marker has been four goals. When they score four or more goals in their past 21 games they are 7-0. When they score three or fewer goals they are 0-14.
The key may be Jordyn Kyrou, When Kyrou scores, St. Louis has hit the four-goal marker in four of the last five. When he does not score, they have only reached the four-goal marker once in the last ten. It may be a simple formula. Kyrou scores, the Blues get to four goals, and they win. If Minnesota shuts down Kyrou, they will most likely not get to four goals, and they will lose. Kyrou has scored on Fleury before when Fleury was in Chicago, but he has also been shut down by Fleury on multiple occasions.
Final Wild-Blues Prediction & Pick
Minnesota is missing their best player, but still finding ways to score. The key for the Blues winning is getting to four goals. Minnesota has allowed that one time in their last 16 outings, which was the loss to Arizona. It would take back-to-back poor defensive outings for the Wild to lose this game, which is not going to happen.
Final Wild-Blues Prediction & Pick: Minnesota Wild -1.5 (+160)
