The Prudential Center will be hosting an East-West showdown as the New Jersey Devils square off against the visiting St. Louis Blues. MSG Plus 2 will broadcast the action, which gets going at 7 p.m. ET on Tuesday, November 7.
St. Louis Blues vs. New Jersey Devils Odds
St. Louis (-135) is currently favored over New Jersey (+115) and the oddsmakers have put the Over/Under (O/U) at 6 goals. The line for betting that total stands at -110 for the over and -110 on the under.
St. Louis is 11-4 straight up (SU) and has earned 6.8 units for moneyline bettors this season. Eight of its outings have gone over the total, while seven have gone under and none have pushed. As the road team in 2017-18, the Blue Notes are 5-3 SU.
St. Louis has converted on 16.3 percent of its power play chances this season, a mark that’s right around league average. Its penalty kill is ranked 23rd overall, and it’s successfully killed off 78.0 percent of all penalties.
The Blue Notes, as a collective unit, have been penalized just 3.7 times per game in the 2017-18 season, a number that’s pretty close to the 3.9 penalties per game given up last year. After serving an average of 8.9 penalty minutes per game a year ago, the team’s had to kill penalties for 8.5 minutes per matchup this season.
Boasting a .919 save percentage and 28.3 saves per game, Jake Allen (8-4-1) has been the top option in goal for St. Louis this year. If it chooses to rest him, however, head coach Mike Yeo may go with Carter Hutton (3-0), who has a .950 save percentage and 1.67 goals against average this year.
Jaden Schwartz and Vladimir Tarasenko will both spearhead the attack for the visiting Blues. Schwartz (20 points) is up to eight goals and 12 assists, and has recorded two or more points five times. Tarasenko has seven goals and nine assists to his name (and has notched a point in 10 games).
Over on the other bench, New Jersey is 9-4 straight up (SU) and has netted moneyline bettors 6.7 units this year. Through 13 regular season contests, nine of its games have gone over the total, while four have gone under and none have pushed. Thus far, the team is 4-2 SU as the home team.
The Devils have converted on 25.6 percent of their power play opportunities this season, a figure that places it in the top-10 among NHL teams. On the other hand, its penalty kill is ranked 18th overall, and it’s successfully killed off 80.7 percent of all penalties.
Devils players have been sent to the penalty box 4.8 times per game this season, a number that has risen some from the 4.0 penalties per game given up last year. After serving an average of 10.0 penalty minutes per game a year ago, the team’s been forced to kill penalties for 11.9 minutes per outing this season.
Cory Schneider (32.6 saves per game) has been the top option in goal for the Devils. Schneider has seven wins and two losses and has registered a pedestrian 3.09 goals against average and a .916 save percentage this season.
The home team will be led on offense by Taylor Hall (five goals, 12 assists).
St. Louis Blues at New Jersey Devils Free Picks
Predictions: SU Winner – Devils, O/U – Over
Betting Trends:
- The Blues are 5-0 SU in games where they serve more penalty minutes than their opponent while the Devils are 6-2 SU when they serve more minutes than the opposition.
- The total has gone over in four of New Jersey’s last five games.
- New Jersey ranked 25th last year with 5.7 takeaways per game, but the team appears to be applying more pressure on opposing offenses to begin this season. It’s up to a ranking of 13th through 13 games with 8.2 takeaways per contest.
- St. Louis skaters have accounted for the league’s sixth-most hits per game (24.7), but the team’s recorded just 19.4 hits over their last five away games.
