The St. Louis Blues and Minnesota Wild meet Sunday in NHL action at the Xcel Energy Center. The St. Louis Blues have lost 5 of their last 8 games. The Minnesota Wild have won 6 of their last 9 games.
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 Minnesota Wild are averaging 3.1 goals per game and are scoring on 23.3 percent of their power play opportunities. Kirill Kaprizov leads Minnesota with 22 goals, Mats Zuccarello has 24 assists and Joel Eriksson Ek has 112 shots on goal. Defensively, the Minnesota Wild are allowing 2.8 goals per game and are killing 79.7 percent of their opponent’s power plays. Marc-Andre Fleury has given up 63 goals on 657 shots faced, and Filip Gustavsson has allowed 33 goals on 436 shots.
The Blues are 5-1 in their last 6 games playing on 0 days rest and 6-2 in their last 8 road games. The Wild are 9-1 in their last 10 games playing on 0 days rest and 9-2 in their last 11 overall. The over is 50-23-4 in Blues last 77 overall. The under is 8-2-1 in Wild last 11 overall. The Blues are 5-2 in the last 7 meetings in Minnesota and 16-5 in the last 21 meetings. The over is 11-4 in the last 15 meetings.
The St. Louis Blues have had success in spots like this lately, but they’re in rough form right now, and being on the end of a back to back doesn’t help matters. The Minnesota Wild continue to find ways to win, and they’ve been one of the better home teams in the league dating back to last season. Home teams also usually have the edge when both teams are playing a second straight game. Give me the Wild.