Blues vs. Wild Prediction
The resurgent St. Louis Blues have won nine games in a row including the last two in shutout fashion. Can the winning streak reach 10 games this afternoon when they travel to the Minnesota Wild for a nationally televised afternoon affair?
Game Snapshot
27 St. Louis Blues at 28 Minnesota Wild
Sunday, February 17, 2019
Xcel Energy Center at 3:05PM ET
TV: NBC
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Public Betting Information
According to oddsmakers at BetNow.eu, the Wild are a -127 favorite to win on the moneyline. The Blues are a +107 underdog, while the over-under is set at 5.5 goals. As of Sunday morning, 80 percent of public bets are pouring in on visiting St. Louis. Check out our NHL Public Betting Page for the latest information.
Blues shut down Avs
St. Louis won 3-0 Saturday at Colorado for its second straight shutout win and third total during the current nine-game winning streak. The Blues (30-22-5) received a stellar effort in net from Jake Allen as he stopped all 32 shots sent his way for the clean sheet. After a scoreless first two periods, Vladimir Tarasenko put St. Louis on the scoreboard with 15:59 left in the third with his 25th goal of the season. Ryan O’Reilly and Brayden Schenn each notched an assist. Zack Sanford made it 2-0 less than a minute later with assists going to Oskar Sundqvist and Patrick Maroon. Jaden Schwartz added another insurance goal with 1:36 remaining on assists from Tarasenko and Tyler Bozak.
Wild drop third in a row
Minnesota lost by a count of 5-4 in overtime at home Friday night against New Jersey to fall to 27-25-6 on the season. The Devils found the back of the net for the game-winner 3:19 into the extra session. Brad Hunt gave Minnesota a 1-0 advantage on the power play in the first period on assists from Ryan Suter and Mikael Granlund. Joel Erikkson Ek made it a 2-0 game on an unassisted goal midway through the first. After New Jersey trimmed it to 2-1 in the second, a goal by Nick Seeler assisted by Hunt and Kyle Rau put the hosts back ahead by two goals. Granlund scored with 12:41 left in the second on assists by Jared Spurgeon and Suter to make it a 4-1 game. The Devils proceeded to score once later in the second followed by two more goals in the third to tie it before finishing it off in OT. Devan Dubnyk suffered the loss as he surrendered five goals on 28 shots.
NHL Betting Trends
St. Louis
The Blues are 6-0 in their last six road games. St. Louis is 6-1 in its last seven games versus the Central Division.
Minnesota
The Wild are 4-12 in their last 16 games as a favorite of -110 to -150. Minnesota is 1-7 in its last eight games overall.
Prediction:
Perhaps this is the right time to fade St. Louis, but I’m going the opposite way. The Wild have a day of rest here while the Blues are on a back-to-back, but one team is clearly playing the better hockey and that is St. Louis. With the Blues finding their stride on both ends of the ice and Dubnyk not being up to his usual standard here, I’m going to take advantage of a moneyline that is perhaps tilted a little too much towards a team in poor form.
NHL DAILY PREDICTION: ST. LOUIS BLUES +107