The St. Louis Blues, spearheaded by David Perron and Ryan O’Reilly, are preparing to take the ice against Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, and the Colorado Avalanche at the Pepsi Center in a divisional matchup. The match will get going at 3 p.m. ET on Saturday, January 18, and it will be showcased live on Fox Sports Midwest.
St. Louis Blues at Colorado Avalanche Odds
St. Louis is 30-18 straight up (SU) and has earned 7.5 units for moneyline bettors this year. Through 48 regular season matches, 24 of its games have gone over the total, while another 24 have gone under and none have pushed. The Blue Notes are 13-10 SU as an away team in 2019-20.
St. Louis has converted on 25.4 percent of its power play opportunities this year, a figure that’s good enough for fifth-best in the NHL. On the other hand, its penalty kill is ranked 13th overall, and it’s successfully killed off 81.9 percent of all penalties..
Averaging 26.7 saves per game with a .915 save percentage, Jordan Binnington (22-12-5) has been the best option in goal for St. Louis this season. If St. Louis decides to rest him, however, head coach Craig Berube might turn to Jake Allen (8-8-3), who has a .926 save percentage and 2.27 goals against average this year.
Colorado is 26-21 straight up (SU) and has lost 0.7 units for moneyline bettors thus far. Through 47 regular season contests, 24 of its games have gone over the total, while 20 have gone under and just two have pushed. This season, the team is 12-11 SU at home.
The Avalanche have converted on just 19.0 percent of their power play opportunities this season, a figure that’s right around league average. Its penalty kill is also ranked 22nd overall, and it’s successfully killed off 78.0 percent of all penalties.
Philipp Grubauer has stopped 27.6 shots per game as the primary choice in goal for the Avalanche. Grubauer has 14 wins, 14 losses, and four overtime losses and has recorded a mediocre 2.81 goals against average and a .911 save percentage this year.
St. Louis Blues at Colorado Avalanche Betting Predictions
Pick: SU Winner – Avalanche, O/U – Under
Betting Trends
Six of St. Louis’ last ten games have been decided by two goals or more. The team is 4-2 in those games.
Extra-man opportunities could be extremely important in this game. The Blues are 14-5 in games where they serve fewer penalty minutes than their opponent and 24-11 when they’re in the penalty box for fewer than 10 total minutes. The Avalanche are 16-9 when they serve fewer penalty minutes than the opposition and 19-10 when they’re in the box for less than 10 minutes.
St. Louis may hold the upper hand if it’s a tight one late. The team’s 13-8 in games decided by one goal, while Colorado is 5-9 in such games.
St. Louis skaters have averaged 6.2 giveaways over its last five home games, an improvement from its season average of 8.0 giveaways per game (the fourth-fewest in the NHL).
Colorado skaters have averaged 8.2 giveaways per game (ranked 7th overall).
