St. Louis Blues vs. Washington Capitals Prediction, Preview, and Odds

statsalt.com

01 January 0001

The St. Louis Blues will be on the road and they will take on the Washington Capitals at Capital One Arena. St. Louis has a record of 29-33-5. Washington has a record of 33-29-7. These two teams faced each other once this season with St. Louis winning the matchup. The puck drops at 7 PM EST.

Blues Lose Two Straight

St. Louis was a +115 underdog in their last game and they lost 8-5 against the Minnesota Wild. Pavel Buchnevich scored three goals. Torey Krug had three assists. Jakub Vrana scored twice. Robert Thomas had two assists. Jordan Binnington allowed five goals on 24 shots faced.

The Blues have been playing well on offense recently. St. Louis scored three or more goals in six of the last eight games. They rank 20 in goals per game and 27 in shots per game this year. Jordan Kyrou leads the team with 64 points. Kyrou leads the Blues with 30 goals. Pavel Buchnevich has 61 points and Robert Thomas has 60 points.

The defense and goaltending have both been poor for St. Louis. They rank 28 in goals against per game and 24 in shots against per game. Jordan Binnington has a record of 22-24-5 with a 3.39 GAA and .892 SV%. Thomas Greiss has a record of 7-9-0 with a 3.50 GAA and .900 SV%. Justin Faulk has 33 points.

St. Louis is sixth in a tough Central division and they are currently 16 points from a Wild Card spot. They will not make the postseason.

Capitals Coming Off Big Win

Washington was a -125 favorite in their previous game and they defeated the Buffalo Sabres 5-4 in a shootout. Alex Ovechkin and T.J. Oshie each scored a goal and had an assist. Dylan Strome had two assists. Charlie Lindgren allowed four goals on 27 shots faced.

The offense has been performing well for the Capitals recently. They scored four or more goals in five of the last nine games. Washington ranks 19 in goals per game and 18 in shots per game. Alex Ovechkin leads the team with 64 points and he leads the Caps with 37 goals. Evgeny Kuznetsov has 51 points and Dylan Strome has 50 points.

The defense and goaltending have both been good for the Caps. They rank 13 in goals against per game and 10 in shots against per game. Darcy Kuemper has a record of 20-21-5 with a 2.75 GAA and a .912 SV%. Charlie Lindgren has a record of 13-8-2 with a 2.78 GAA and .903 SV%.

Washington is sixth in the Metropolitan Division and they are currently on the outside looking into a Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference. The Capitals will need more from their offense in order to grab a Wild Card position. The Islanders and Panthers currently hold the two Wild Card spots. The Capitals are five points shy of a Wild Card spot.

BetMGM wants to make your first tournament bet easy! Get up to $1,000 back in Bonus Bets if you don't win. What are you waiting for? Passing this up would be Madness! *Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER (CO, DC, IL, IN, LA, MD, MS, NJ, OH, PA, TN, VA, WV, WY) Call 877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY). 21+ to wager. Please Gamble Responsibly. Call 1-800-NEXT-STEP (AZ), 1-800-522-4700 (KS, NV), 1-800-327-5050 (MA), 1-800-BETS-OFF (IA), 1-800-270-7117 for confidential help (MI). Visit BetMGM.com for Terms & Conditions. US promotional offers not available in Nevada, New York or Ontario.

Best Bets

Full-Game Side Bet

Rating:

Washington is fighting for their playoff lives, while the Blues have no chance of getting into the postseason. Defense and goaltending are two big advantages for the Caps in this contest. Washington ranks 13th in goals against per game and 10th in shots against per game. The defense and goaltending have both been poor for St. Louis. They rank 28th in goals against per game and 24th in shots against per game. St. Louis is 2-7 in their last nine road games. With a lot to play for and playing at home, Washington will win this matchup by two or more goals.

Bet the goal spread (-1.5) and take Washington.

Prediction: Washington Capitals (-1.5)

Full-Game Total Pick

Rating:

Both teams have been playing well on offense recently. The Capitals scored four or more goals in five of the last nine games. St. Louis scored three or more goals in six of the last eight games. In 33 road games for the Blues this season, the over has hit in 20 games. In St. Louis’ last five games, the over has hit four times and in Washington’s last nine games, the over has hit six times. The total has gone over in four of Washington's last six games when playing at home against St. Louis. The over is 7-3 in the last 10 meetings between these two teams. This will be a higher-scoring game and the over will hit.

Take the over, six goals.

Prediction: Over 6

Growing up, James was fascinated with watching sports, especially football, and basketball. This led to an interest in research and stats for fantasy sports, which quickly led to a successful career as a sports bettor. His passion has produced multiple tournament wins with generous earnings and he has combined that with his talented writing skills to join our team here at StatSalt. James graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Business and has used his overall knowledge of sports betting to make him one to follow each and every day.