Roman Josi, Filip Forsberg, and the Nashville Predators will do battle against David Perron, Ryan O’Reilly, and the St. Louis Blues at the Enterprise Center in a Central Division tilt. The opening face-off is at 3 p.m. ET on Saturday, February 15, and you’ll be able to watch the game live on Fox Sports Midwest.
Nashville Predators at St. Louis Blues Odds
Nashville (+110) is currently the underdog to St. Louis (-130), and oddsmakers have set the Over/Under (O/U) at 6 goals (-115 over, -105 under).
St. Louis is 32-25 straight-up (SU) and has lost 0.3 units for moneyline bettors thus far. That winning percentage, ranked third in the Central Division so far this season, hasn’t moved much from what the team posted during last year’s regular season (45-37). Of its 57 games this season, 29 have gone over the total, while 26 have gone under and just two have pushed. The team is 18-10 SU at home this year.
The Blues have converted on 25.0 percent of their power play chances this year, a mark that’s good enough for fourth-best in the NHL. On the other hand, their penalty kill is ranked 17th overall, and they’ve successfully killed off 79.5 percent of all penalties.
Boasting a .909 save percentage and 26.7 saves per game, Jordan Binnington (24-17-7) has been the most dependable goalkeeper for the Blue Notes this season. If St. Louis chooses to rest him, however, the team could turn to Jake Allen (8-11-11 record, .925 save percentage, 2.26 goals against average).
Nashville has lost 13.4 units for moneyline bettors this year and is currently 27-29 straight up (SU). Through 56 regular season matches, 32 of its games have gone over the total, while 23 have gone under the total and just one has pushed. The Predators are 15-14 SU as the road team this season.
The Predators have converted on just 16.8 percent of their power play chances this season, a figure that places them in the bottom-10 overall among NHL teams. On the other hand, its penalty kill unit is ranked 31st overall and it’s successfully defended 74.2 percent of all opponent power plays.
Pekka Rinne (3.11 goals against average and .895 save percentage) has been the primary option in goal for Nashville. Rinne is averaging 24.3 saves per game and owns a 17-16-3 record.
Nashville Predators vs. St. Louis Blues Betting Picks
NHL Tip: SU Winner – Blues, O/U – Over
Betting Notes
- Over St. Louis’ last ten outings, six of them have been decided by two or more goals (the team is 1-5 in those games).
- Power plays and penalty kills could be extremely important in the outcome of this one. The Predators are 12-9 when they serve fewer penalty minutes than their opponent and 18-19 in games where they serve fewer than 10 penalty minutes, in total. The Blues are 14-7 when the team serves fewer penalty minutes than the opposition and 25-17 in games where they’re in the box for less than 10 minutes.
- St. Louis is 1-3 in games decided by a shootout this season while Nashville is 2-3 in shootouts.
- For both of these teams, the total has gone over in three of their past five matches.
- Nashville skaters have averaged 7.2 giveaways over its last five home games, an improvement from its season average of 9.0 giveaways per game (ranked 11th).
- One of the best at valuing possession, St. Louis is ranked 2nd this season with just 7.7 giveaways per game. That figure has improved lately, however, as it’s averaged 6.3 giveaways over its last 10 games and 5.4 giveaways over its last five.
