The St. Louis Blues host the Boston Bruins on Wednesday night in a game that can be seen on NBCSN. The Bruins have one of the best records in the NHL and actually could finish with the top record in the East if they can catch Tampa Bay, while the Blues are fighting just to make the playoffs. Every game is critical for St. Louis, who is currently just outside of the top eight in the West. Let’s look at this contest on Wednesday and NHL picks.
Don't miss the ice action from the Scottrade Center at 8 p.m. ET on Wednesday, March 21, 2018. Catch every moment of the game live on NBCSN.
We'll have NHL odds at BookMaker.eu available for this and every game on the NHL Wednesday schedule.
Odds Analysis
The Bruins are trying to catch Tampa for the top spot in the East and they will play the Lightning twice before the regular season ends. Boston got a huge 3-0 win on Saturday against the Lightning. Head coach Bruce Cassidy said it was one of the biggest wins of the season. “Yeah, probably the biggest win in a long time,” Cassidy said to the media. “We’ve had some nice comebacks, we’ve had some high-scoring games. It was nice to get a zero in the column.”
Boston may have beaten Tampa Bay, but the Bruins face a really tough task to win the Atlantic Division, as they have to play 7 of their last 11 games on the road. Boston is 20-14 on the road this season, with 15 games going over the total, 18 going under, with one push. They are scoring 3.3 goals per game and giving up 2.5 per contest.
The Blues are 21-15 at home this season, with 13 games going over, 22 going under the total, with one push. They are scoring 2.7 goals per game and giving up 2.7 per contest.
St. Louis has not played that great recently and leading scorer Vladimir Tarasenko suffered an upper body injury in Saturday’s 4-3 win over the Rangers. The Blues can’t afford to lose players and they can’t afford to lose many more games. “The season is on the line really,” Brayden Schenn said recently to the media. “We’ve got games in hand, we’ve got to grab two points every time we can here down the stretch.”
The Blues are battling with Colorado, Dallas, Los Angeles and Anaheim for the last Wild Card playoff spot in the West. The Blues play five home games and five road games in their last ten games of the regular season.
Special Teams
The Bruins are 6th in the league on the power play at just over 22%, while they are 11th in penalty killing at about 82%. The Blues are pathetic on the power play at 30th in the league at just 15%, while they are 13th in penalty killing at about 81%.
Key Stat
The teams have split their last ten meetings, but Boston has taken three of the last four, with three of those games going over the total. Boston has done well in St. Louis of late, winning five of the last seven. The games in St. Louis have been high scoring, with six of the last seven going over the total.
Free NHL Picks
Both of these teams are dealing with injuries, as the Bruins are missing a number of top players including Patrice Bergeron and Charlie McAvoy and St. Louis could be without Tarasenko on Wednesday. The trends are with the Bruins, but the Blues are in must-win mode. I will avoid a side look at the total. Both of these teams are good on defense and both teams are missing key scorers, so I will take this contest on Wednesday night under the total.
NHL Odds: Blues 3, Bruins 2
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