Welcome to a Tuesday edition of NHL Predictions! We hope your week is off to a strong start and we thank you for joining us as we take a look at a Central Division showdown. The Minnesota Wild will be paying a visit to the Gateway City for a matchup with the St. Louis Blues.
NHL Predictions
St. Louis Blues vs. Minnesota Wild
Tuesday is the second meeting between the two teams. The first came in the second week of the season. The Wild were victorious in St. Louis, 4-1. The game had a notable moment, as Wild goaltender Filip Gustavsson became the 15th goaltender in NHL history to score a goal.
Tuesday’s game is the second of four games this season between the Wild and the Blues. After Tuesday, the final two games of the series will be played in Minnesota. If the Wild win Tuesday, they will guarantee at least a split in the season series.
Blues Story
The Blues ended their losing streak over the weekend with an overtime win in Boston. Unfortunately for the Blue Note, the success did not carry into the next game, where they lost in Carolina. The team is 8-10-1 and are three points out of the Western Conference’s last playoff spot.
It is unknown what the Blues lineup will look like on Tuesday. However, we do know that the lineup will not include Kasperi Kapanen. The former first-round pick who the Blues re-signed in the summer was placed on waivers on Monday. It seems the move is simply to free up a little bit of cap space on the roster. Furthermore, the move frees up the opportunity for Zachary Bolduc to see more consistent playing time. The youngster has the opportunity to have a big impact for the Blues. Extra playing time will increase the likelihood of that happening.
Wild Story
The Wild have had an excellent start to the season. The team went into the season with the goal of reaching the playoffs again this year, but very few expected a 11-3-3 start. Hockey is cruel, however. As great as the Wild have been, the Winnipeg Jets have been a little better. As a result, the Wild find themselves in second place in the Central Division despite their excellent start. Regardless, if the Wild continue this success, they will be considered legitimate Stanley Cup contenders.
To no one’s surprise, Kirill Kaprizov leads the team with 31 points and 11 goals. Between the pipes, Filip Gustavsson and Marc-Andre Fleury have been excellent. For Fleury, what is his final year in the NHL is starting off very strong. Some questioned his decision to return to the Wild in April. However, it seems he knew what he was doing. It will be interesting to see if the hockey legend has any more legendary moments in him.
Prediction
The Wild had a rare regulation loss in their last game on Saturday night. With only three regulation losses on the season, back-to-back losses seems far-fetched given how this team is playing. We are going to roll with the visitors this time.
Wild win 5-3.
Prop Bets
FanDuel has the over/under set at 5.5 goals. We are taking the over with eight combined goals.
This is by no means a bold bet, but we are taking Kirill Kaprizov as an anytime scorer for the Wild at +100. Furthermore, Kaprizov has six goals in 18 career games against the Blues. When we combine that with his strong start to the season, it would feel foolish to not take this bet.
For the Blues, we are taking defenceman Scott Perunovich at +1500. Perunovich has showed signs of improvement in recent games. Finally scoring his first NHL goal a week ago seems to have unlocked another level for him.
Main Photo Credit: James Guillory – Imagn Images
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