St. Louis Blues vs Minnesota Wild 12/31/22 NHL Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Minnesota Wild and St. Louis Blues meet Saturday in NHL action at the Enterprise Center. The Minnesota Wild have won 7 of their last 9 games. The St. Louis Blues have split their last 6 games.

The Minnesota Wild are averaging 3.1 goals per game and are scoring on 23.7 percent of their power play opportunities. Kirill Kaprizov leads Minnesota with 20 goals, Mats Zuccarello has 23 assists and Joel Eriksson Ek has 108 shots on goal. Defensively, the Minnesota Wild are allowing 2.8 goals per game and are killing 79 percent of their opponent’s power plays. Marc-Andre Fleury has given up 61 goals on 626 shots faced, and Filip Gustavsson has allowed 32 goals on 401 shots.

The St. Louis Blues are averaging 3.1 goals per game and are scoring on 23.5 percent of their power play opportunities. Jordan Kyrou leads St. Louis with 17 goals, Robert Thomas has 24 assists, and Justin Faulk has 95 shots on goal. Defensively, the St. Louis Blues are allowing 3.7 goals per game and are killing 71.4 percent of their opponent’s power plays. Jordan Binnington has allowed 81 goals on 783 shots faced, and Thomas Greiss has given up 36 goals on 371 shots.

The Wild are 4-1 in their last 5 games playing on 1 days rest and 7-2 in their last 9 overall. The Blues are 2-5 in their last 7 home games and 12-5 in their last 17 games following a win. The under is 8-1 in Wild last 9 overall. The over is 47-23-4 in Blues last 74 overall. The Wild are 1-9 in the last 10 meetings in St. Louis and 5-17 in the last 22 meetings. The underdog is 11-5 in the last 16 meetings.

The Minnesota Wild are looking more and more like the team we expected to see before the season started, and they have a defense that travels. The St. Louis Blues just can’t get out of their own way, and their defense has been horrible during this losing stretch. The Wild don’t beat the Blues often, but we’re getting the much hotter, consistent team at a cheap price. Give me the Wild.