St. Louis Blues vs. Minnesota Wild Betting Preview
Where: Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul, MN
When: Thursday, January 26, 2017, 8:00 PM ET
Line: St. Louis Blues (+155) at Minnesota Wild (-175); total: 5.0 – view all NHL lines
Betting on the St. Louis Blues (24-19-5)
Moneyline: +155
There was no better way for the St. Louis Blues to snap their three-game losing streak than by shutting out the red-hot Penguins in Pittsburgh on Tuesday, 3-0.
After the Blues surrendered no less than five goals in each of their last three games, backup goalie Carter Hutton more than just stifled Pittsburgh’s potent offense by blanking the team with 34 huge saves. St. Louis, who’s currently the seventh-best penalty-killing team in the league (83.6 percent), also shut down the Penguins’ six power-play opportunities.
Meanwhile, the team’s offense got just enough production from unlikely sources, as Colton Parayko, Ryan Reaves and Scottie Upshall each scored a goal against the Pens.
Even though those three players have combined for just one goal this month prior to Tuesday, St. Louis will be glad to have any means of scoring from anybody on the roster, especially with star forward Vladimir Tarasenko still in a slump. Tarasenko has an eight-game goal-less streak working against him along with just three assists during that stretch.
Nevertheless, the Blues have actually been feisty road warriors of late despite their general inconsistency. They’ve won three of their last four games away from The Lou with wins over Pittsburgh, Anaheim and San Jose – teams currently with a combined record of 146-88-23 and no less than 65 points apiece for the season.
Betting on the Minnesota Wild (31-11-5)
Moneyline: -175
Just 10 days after escaping with a one-point win over the Dallas Stars, the Minnesota Wild concluded their return to the Lone Star State on Tuesday with an even more tense 3-2 victory via shootout.
The NHL’s most dependable goalie, Devan Dubnyk, made 35 saves in regulation and denied Dallas’ fifth-round shot from Jason Spezza before Chris Stewart found the back of the net in the final frame of the tiebreaker. Dubnyk notched his Western-Conference best 26th win of the season, and remains atop the NHL’s rankings in goals against average (1.91) and save percentage (.935).
Similar to the Blues, though, the Wild have a struggling star in Eric Staal that’s keeping them from winning in dominant fashion. Staal has been held without a point for a third-consecutive contest, but at least a couple of the team’s role players have stepped up in his absence, with Nino Niederreiter and Mikael Granlund both dishing out helpers on Tuesday. Niederreiter now has three goals and four assists in his last six starts, while Granlund is riding a career-high eight-game point streak (eight assists and a goal).
An upset by a resurgent St. Louis team isn’t far from happening, but the Wild still like their chances in their trip back to Xcel Energy Center this Thursday. They’ve won five of their last seven meetings at home against the Blues since the 2015 season and with Dubnyk manning the steel pipes in all of those contests.
Writer’s Prediction
The Wild (-175) create more separation from St. Louis for first place in the Central Division standings, 4-2.
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