Central Division rivals do battle on Tuesday night, as the Minnesota Wild visit the St. Louis Blues on NBCSN. The Wild have played better of late to get back into Wild Card contention, but most of their success has come at home, as they are just 10-16 on the road. The Blues come into this game in third place in the division and St. Louis has won four of their last five games. Let’s look at this Tuesday night contest and NHL picks.
This war on the ice will go down Tuesday, February 6, 2018 at 8 p.m. ET at Scottrade Center. The game will be televised live on NBCSN.
We'll have NHL odds at BookMaker.eu available for this and every game on the NHL Tuesday schedule.
Odds Analysis
Both Minnesota and St. Louis come into this game having had two days off. The Wild are coming off a bad performance in Dallas on Saturday, as they were routed 6-1, while the Blues shut out Buffalo by a score of 1-0 on Saturday. The Blues will be listed as slight home favorites in this contest, with the total at 5.5.
Minnesota is 10-16 on the road this season, with 15 of those games going over the total, just nine going under, with two pushes. They are scoring 2.9 goals per game and giving up 2.9 per contest.
The Wild will conclude a quick two-game road trip and there is some danger that they could be looking ahead, as they start a five-game homestand on Thursday.
The Blues are 18-10 at home this season, with ten games going over and 18 going under the total. They are scoring 2.8 goals per game and giving up 2.5 per contest.
Head coach Mike Yeo reunited the line of Jaden Schwartz, Braden Schenn and Vladimir Tarasenko on Saturday and the results were mixed. The line had seven shots on goal but didn’t score. This is the start of a quick two-game homestand for the Blues, as they will host Colorado on Thursday.
Special Teams
The Wild are 10th in the NHL on the power play at just over 20%, while they are 16th in penalty killing at just over 80%. The Blues have struggled on the power play, as they are 25th in the league at just over 16% but St. Louis is 4th in the league in penalty killing at 82%.
Key Stat
These teams have met twice this season with each team winning at home. The Blues won a high scoring 6-3 contest in late November, while the Wild won a low scoring 2-1 affair in early December. The Blues have won six of the last ten overall in the series, with seven of the ten going under the total. The Blues have won 7 of the last 10 at home in this series, with two of the last three going under the total.
Free NHL Picks
Both teams played on Saturday, so there is no advantage for either in terms of rest. The Wild have not been that great on the road, while the Blues have been solid at home and St. Louis has done well in this series. I will lay the price and take St. Louis in this contest. I also think the total has some value. Minnesota has been a team to bet over on the road, but if there was ever going to be a case to take the Wild under it should be on Tuesday night. Minnesota is coming off an awful defensive performance against Dallas and head coach Ken Hitchcock will be preaching defense for this game. It also helps that the Blues have been a really good team to bet under the total at home. I will take this game on Tuesday night under the total.
NHL Odds: Blues 3, Wild 2
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