Two of the league’s best at converting on the power play, the St. Louis Blues and the Boston Bruins meet at TD Garden. The opening face-off takes place at 7 p.m. ET on Saturday, October 26, and fans at home are able to watch this East-West matchup live on NBC Sports Network.
St. Louis Blues vs. Boston Bruins Odds
Moneyline odds have not yet been posted for this matchup.
Netting moneyline bettors 2.9 units, the Bruins are 6-3 straight up (SU) overall this year. That winning percentage, ranked fifth in the NHL in this young season, hasn’t moved much from the 49-33 record the team produced during last year’s regular season campaign. Through nine regular season matches, five of the team’s games have gone over the total, while four have gone under and none have pushed. The team is 3-1 SU at home so far this year.
Boston has successfully converted on 35.7 percent of its power play chances thus far. That’s a big improvement from last season, when it was ranked second in the league by scoring on 27.6 percent of its extra-man advantages. Its penalty kill has gotten stronger year-over-year as it has gone from successfully defending 81.8 percent of opponents’ power plays (ranked seventh overall last season) to 84.6 percent this year.
As a collective unit, Boston has been called for penalties just 3.2 times per game this season, a number that has improved from the 3.7 penalties per game given up last year. After serving an average of 9.0 penalty minutes per game a year ago, the team’s been forced to stave off opponent power plays for only 6.4 minutes per outing this season.
With a .944 save percentage and 30.2 saves per game, Tuukka Rask (four wins, one loss, and one OT loss) has been the top goalkeeper for the Bruins this season. If head coach Bruce Cassidy chooses to give him a rest, however, the Bruins might go with Jaroslav Halak (2-2-2 record, .931 save percentage, 2.24 goals against average).
The Bruins will continue to look for offensive production from David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand. Pastrnak (17 points) has produced 10 goals and seven assists while Marchand has five goals and nine assists to his name so far in the season’s early stages.
On the other side of the ice, St. Louis is 5-5 straight up (SU) and has lost 2.7 units for moneyline bettors this year. A total of five of its matches have gone over the total, while an additional five have gone under the total and none have pushed. St. Louis’ 2-2 SU as an away team this season.
St. Louis has scored on 29.0 percent of its power play chances this season, a figure that’s good enough for fourth-best in the NHL. On the other hand, its penalty kill unit is ranked eighth overall and it’s successfully killed off 86.7 percent of all opponent power plays.
St. Louis’ players have been penalized 3.3 times per game this season. Last season, that number was at 3.3, which was the fifth-best mark in the league. After serving an average of 7.5 penalty minutes per game a year ago, the team has been forced to stave off opponent power plays for 6.9 minutes per matchup this season.
Jordan Binnington (.916 save percentage and 2.58 goals against average) has been the primary option in goal for St. Louis. Binnington is averaging 28.8 saves per game and owns a 4-4-3 record.
Leading the offensive firepower for the visiting Blues will be Brayden Schenn (eight goals, three assists) and Vladimir Tarasenko (three goals, seven assists).
St. Louis Blues vs. Boston Bruins Betting Predictions
NHL Tip: SU Winner – Bruins, O/U – Over
Betting Trends
- For both of these teams, the total has gone over in three of their past five games.
- St. Louis skaters created 22.5 hits per game last season, while the Bruins forced 24.7 hits per matchup.
