Welcome to NHL Predictions! If you were impacted by the severe weather on Friday, we hope you are safe with minimal damage to your property. If the weather is headed your away, please be prepared to take action to keep you and your loved ones safe. Now, back to the good ole’ hockey game! Today’s prediction looks at the Central Division showdown between the St. Louis Blues and the Minnesota Wild.
NHL Predictions
St. Louis Blues vs. Minnesota Wild
Time: 8:00 P.M. EDT
TV: FanDuel Sports Network Midwest, FanDuel Sports Network North
Head-to-Head: Wild Lead 3-0
The Blues and Wild meet for the final time this season. The Wild will be looking to sweep the season series against their Central Division rivals. Since the NHL returned to Minnesota, the Wild have not swept a season series with the Blues. Saturday has an opportunity to be the first.
Blues Coming Off Frustrating Loss
The Blues outplayed the Pittsburgh Penguins in nearly every aspect of the game on Thursday. The power play scored twice. The team generated 36 shots on goal. However, Jordan Binnington struggled between the pipes, allowing four goals before being pulled in favour of Joel Hofer.
Tough losses happen in hockey. However, this one really hurts. The Blues are right in the thick of the playoff chase. They cannot afford to lose games against teams they should beat. Yes, the Blues team aside from Binnington played a dominating game, but that does not add two points in the standings. A pig with lipstick and a wig is still a pig. A dominating loss is still a loss.
The good news is that the Blues do have something to build off of for Saturday. The power play was productive. Zachary Bolduc scored one again. The young forward has a chance at reaching 20 goals for the season. Furthermore, the team had numerous shots on goal. They forced Tristan Jarry to be the difference maker, which he was.
Playing against a tough Wild team, the Blues will need to match the effort from Thursday and then some. Whoever gets the nod in goal will need to be on their game for the Blues to have a chance.
Wild Starting March Inconsistently
The new month has not been kind to the Wild. Granted, it has not been unkind to them either. The team is 2-3-1 since March started. They have an impressive win against a playoff-bound team. However, they have lost three games to teams who will not be in the playoffs this season.
The Wild are in a comfortable spot in the playoff chase. They are the first wild card team right now in the Western Conference. They hold a comfortable lead for said spot. As a result, this inconsistent start to March is not hurting them, but it might if it continues. Furthermore, the Wild finish the month with seven games against opponents in the thick of the playoff race. There is not much room to take a night off.
If the Wild want to be taken seriously as Stanley Cup contenders, this is an important stretch of hockey.
Prediction
In their three prior meetings, the Wild have exposed the weaknesses of the Blues. However, the Blues play since January shows there is more grit to this team than meets the eye.
We expect a game where both goalies put on a show. In fact, it will be similar to the game from the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2017, where the Blues and Wild played a close and intense opening game of the series. However, unlike in 2017, we think the Wild come away with the two points.
Wild win, 2-1, in overtime.
Prop Bets
The over/under is set at 5.5 goals. We are the under with three goals.
For anytime scorers, we are taking Jordan Kyrou for the Blues. For the Wild, we pick Matt Boldy. In fact, we think it is Boldy who scores the overtime goal for the Wild.
Main Photo: Matt Blewett- Imagn Images
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The post NHL Predictions: March 15th St. Louis Blues Vs. Minnesota Wild appeared first on Last Word On Hockey.