The St. Louis Blues and the Minnesota Wild meet in NHL action from the Xcel Energy Center on Tuesday night. The Wild fired their coach amidst a 7-game losing streak, can they snap it here? Let’s dive in and find out. Make sure to read our Blues vs Wild Prediction.
Blues Take Down Blackhawks
The St. Louis Blues come into this one looking to build on their 4-2 win over Chicago in their last game. Robert Thomas leads the Blues in scoring with 22 points including team-highs of 8 goals and 14 assists while Pavel Buchnevich has 16 points split between 8 goals and 8 assists. Jordan Kyrou has 13 points with 4 goals and 9 assists while Brayden Schenn has 11 points with 6 goals and 5 assists and Justin Faulk has 10 assists as well this season. Jordan Binnington’s gone 6-5-1 with a 2.89 GAA and a .909 save percentage between the pipes for St. Louis while Joel Hofer is 5-3 with a 3.03 GAA and a .905 save percentage this season.
St. Louis Blues Team Facts
- The Blues have won four of their last five games as underdogs against opponents on a losing streak.
- The road team has covered the puck line in each of the Blues’ last four games.
- The ‘Over 1.5 Goals Period 1′ market has hit in each of the Blues’ last seven games against Central Division opponents.
- The Blues have won the first period in six of their last seven games against the Wild following a road win.
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Wild On Losing Skid
The Minnesota Wild come into this one looking to snap a 7-game losing streak following a 4-1 loss to Detroit last time out. Mats Zuccarello has a team-high 21 points including a team-high 16 assists while Joel Eriksson Ek has 17 points with a team-high 10 goals and 7 assists. Kirill Kaprizov’s added 18 points of his own with 12 assists and Ryan Hartman and Marco Rossi have each added 11 points with Hartman adding 7 goals and Rossi putting in 6 goals this season. Filip Gustavsson has posted a 2-6-2 record with a 3.94 GAA and an .875 save percentage while Marc-Andre Fleury is 3-4-2 with a 3.46 GAA and an .875 save percentage this season.
Minnesota Wild Team Facts
- The Wild have lost each of their last seven games.
- The Wild have failed to cover the puck line in 14 of their last 16 night games at Xcel Energy Center following a road loss.
- The ‘Over 1.5 Goals Period 3’ market has hit in each of the last nine games between the Blues and Wild.
- The Wild have lost the first period in each of their last four games at Xcel Energy Center.
Matchup/League Facts
- The Minnesota Wild ranks 32nd in the league in penalty kill percentage this season (66.67%).
- The Minnesota Wild ranks 31st in the league for goals against per game this season (3.95).
- The St. Louis Blues ranks 30th in the league in power play percentage this season (9.84%).
- The St. Louis Blues ranks 32nd in the league in penalty minutes this season (130).
Chris’ Pick
I’m going to side with St. Louis here. I know a lot of teams get that new coach lift in the first game after the firing, but it’s not like it’s a lack of offense that’s consistently doomed this team. It has happened in spots, but the goaltending is what has really let this team down and I don’t think that’s changing overnight. St. Louis is a solid team with decent goaltending and I think they do enough here to snag the win at plus money.
