Two teams currently on losing skids, the St. Louis Blues and the Vancouver Canucks meet at Rogers Arena in a Western Conference showdown. CBC Sports will showcase the matchup, which gets underway at 10 p.m. ET on Saturday, December 23.
St. Louis Blues vs. Vancouver Canucks Odds
With a -155 moneyline, St. Louis comes into the matchup as the noticeable favorite. The line for Vancouver sits at +135, and the Over/Under (O/U) is set at 6 goals (-135 under, +115 over).
St. Louis is 22-15 straight up (SU) and has netted moneyline bettors 2.6 units this year. Through 37 regular season outings, 22 of its games have gone under the total, while 15 have gone over and none have pushed. This 2017-18 Blues team is 10-8 SU on the road.
St. Louis has converted on just 16.7 percent of its power play opportunities this year, a mark that places them in the bottom-10 overall among NHL teams. Its penalty kill is ranked 15th overall, and it’s successfully killed off 81.6 percent of its penalties.
For the team as a whole, the Blue Notes have been penalized just 3.6 times per game overall this season, 3.8 per game over its last five contests total, and 3.8 per game over its last five games as the visiting team. The team’s been forced to kill penalties just 7.4 minutes per game over their last 10 outings.
With a .911 save percentage and 25.6 saves per game, Jake Allen (17-13-2) has been the primary option in goal for St. Louis this season. If St. Louis decides to rest him, however, head coach Mike Yeo might roll with Carter Hutton (6-4), who has a .948 save percentage and 1.67 goals against average this year.
Brayden Schenn and Vladimir Tarasenko will both lead the way for the visiting Blues. Schenn has 40 points on 17 goals and 23 assists, and has recorded two or more points 10 times. Tarasenko has 15 goals and 20 assists to his credit (and has logged a point in 21 games).
On the other bench, Vancouver is 15-21 straight up (SU) and has lost 1.6 units for moneyline bettors thus far. 21 of its matches have gone over the total, while 15 have gone under and none have pushed. It’s 6-12 SU as the home team this season.
The Canucks have converted on 22.2 percent of their power play opportunities this season, a mark that places it in the top-10 among NHL teams. On the other hand, its penalty kill is ranked 27th overall, and it’s successfully killed off 76.9 percent of all opponent power plays.
Canucks players have been penalized 4.1 times per game in total this season, and 5.2 per game over their last five home outings. The team has had to defend opponent power plays 12.0 minutes per game over their last five home outings.
Jacob Markstrom (26.0 saves per game) has been the top option in goal for the Canucks. Markstrom has nine wins, 16 losses, and four OT losses to his name and has maintained a pedestrian 2.80 goals against average and a subpar .904 save percentage this season.
The Nucks will be led on offense by Brock Boeser (19 goals, 14 assists).
St. Louis Blues vs. Vancouver Canucks Free Picks
Predictions: SU Winner – Canucks, O/U – Over
Notes
Betting Trends
Vancouver is 0-2 in games decided by a shootout this season while St. Louis is 2-0 in shootouts.
The total has gone over in each of Vancouver’s last five outings.
St. Louis has managed 26.8 shot attempts per game over its last five road games while Vancouver is averaging 31.8 shots per game over its last five at home.
Vancouver has allowed 3.3 goals per game overall this season, but is allowing 6.0 goals per contest over its three-game losing streak.
Over Vancouver’s last ten outings, seven of them have been decided by two or more goals (the team is 1-6 in those games).
St. Louis skaters have accounted for the ninth-most hits in the league (22.9 per game).
