The St. Louis Blues will be looking for a little payback when they take on the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday. Vegas blew out St. Louis on Monday, 6-1, the fourth straight time they have beaten the Blues.
Here you can find the best picks, news, and stats for this Central Division battle at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Vegas is the favorite at -145. This according to PointsBet Sportsbook, which puts the odds for St. Louis at +125 as the underdog.
Center Patrick Brown is listed as questionable for Vegas. Center Chandler Stephenson is suspended but can return on Friday. Defenseman Zach Whitecloud is also questionable for Wednesday’s game. St. Louis will be without left-wing Mackenzie MacEachern, who is out indefinitely.
Lehner Sharp in Golden Knights Victory
Robin Lehner stopped 31 of 32 shots to lead Vegas to the victory. Alex Martinez scored two goals and William Carrier added a goal and an assist for the Golden Knights.
Vegas is first in goals allowed at 2.24 per contest. They are fifth in penalty killing at 85.0%. Marc-Andre Fleury will likely be between the pipes on Wednesday, and he is one of the best goaltenders in the NHL. Fleury has a 17-9-0 record with a 2.14 GAA and a .924 save percentage. He has lost his last two starts, however, allowing six total goals.
The Golden Knights are ninth in goals per game at 3.22 and are eighth in shooting percentage at 10.3%. The team has not been very good on the power-play, 25th at 17.5%. Mark Stone leads the team in points with 29 assists and 41 points. Max Pacioretty is the team leader in goals with 18 and is second in points with 34.
Four Goal Period Dooms St. Louis
Ville Husso allowed five goals on 19 shots, including allowing three in the second period before being pulled in the Blues loss to Vegas. Tyler Bozak had the lone goal of the game for St. Louis, his second of the season.
St. Louis is 20th in goals per game at 2.68 per contest and is 19th in shooting percentage at 9.1%. They are 24th on the power-play at 17.7%. St. Louis is led in scoring by David Perron with 37 points. He also leads the team in assists with 24 and is tied with Ryan O’Reilly in goals with 13.
The Blues are allowing 3.21 goals per game, 25th overall. They are 26th in killing penalties at 75.4%. Jordan Binnington will be between the pipes on Wednesday. He is 10-11-5 with a 2.77 GAA and a .904 save percentage. Binnington has allowed 11 total goals over his last five starts.
Trends:
Vegas:
- 5-2 in their last seven games on the road.
- 20-6 and their last 26 games against teams with a losing record.
St. Louis:
- 2-12 in their last 14 games.
- 7-19 in their last 26 games at home.
Vegas has dominated St. Louis of late, and things do not look like they are getting any brighter for the Blues. St. Louis is 4-9-4 at home and they are 2-7-1 in their last v10, including losing their last three. This is not a great matchup for St. Louis as they will be dropping their fourth game in a row.
Pick: Take Vegas at -145.
The Total:
I find the total to be far too low in this game. These teams combined for seven goals in their last game and have actually gone over 5.5 goals in nine straight meetings. Goals are scored when these two teams face each other and, with Fleury not at his best, this has the makings for another contest going over.
Pick: Go over 5.5 at -115.
