Facing each other for the final time this year, the Ottawa Senators and the St. Louis Blues meet at the Scottrade Center in an East-West tilt. The opening face-off is at 8 p.m. ET on Tuesday, January 23, and it’s being televised live on Fox Sports Midwest.
Ottawa Senators at St. Louis Blues Odds
The Blues are 28-21 straight up (SU) and have earned 0.5 units for moneyline bettors this season. That early-season winning percentage hasn’t moved much from the 46-36 record the team produced during last year’s regular season campaign. Of its 49 regular season matches, 29 have gone under the total, while 20 have gone over and none have pushed. This year, the team’s 15-10 SU at home.
St. Louis has converted on just 15.5 percent of its power play chances this season, a figure that places the team in the bottom-10 overall among NHL teams. On the other hand, its penalty kill is rated 17th overall, and it’s successfully killed off 81.5 percent of all penalties.
St. Louis, as a collective unit, has been called for penalties just 3.5 times per game overall this season, and 2.8 per game over its last five home outings. The team’s had to kill penalties for 8.8 minutes per game over its last 10 matchups, overall.
Averaging 25.8 saves per game with a .909 save percentage, Jake Allen (18-18-2) has been the primary goalkeeper for the Blues this season. If they choose to give him the evening off, however, head coach Mike Yeo could turn to Carter Hutton (11-8-8 record, .938 save percentage, 1.91 goals against average).
Brayden Schenn and Vladimir Tarasenko will both lead the offensive attack for the Blues. Schenn (47 points) has tallied 19 goals and 28 assists and has recorded two or more points in 11 different games this year. Tarasenko has 20 goals and 25 assists to his credit and has recorded at least one point in 29 games.
On the other side of the ice, Ottawa is 15-30 straight up (SU) and has lost 15.9 units for bettors taking the moneyline this year. Through 45 regular season contests, 24 of its games have gone over the total, while 20 have gone under and none have pushed. As the visiting team so far, Ottawa is 6-15 SU.
Ottawa has converted on just 15.3 percent of its power play chances this season, a figure that’s ranked 29th in the NHL. On the other hand, its penalty kill unit is ranked 30th overall and it’s successfully killed off 74.6 percent of all opponent power plays.
Ottawa’s skaters have been penalized 3.7 times per game this season, 4.0 per game over their last five games total, and 3.2 per game over their last five road outings. The team’s had to defend opponent power plays 8.9 minutes per game over their last 10 outings.
Craig Anderson (27.0 saves per game) has been the primary choice in the net for Ottawa. Anderson has 13 wins, 21 losses, and five OT losses to his credit, while registering a .899 save percentage and 3.24 goals against average this year.
Leading the offensive attack for the visiting Senators will be Mark Stone, who has 18 goals and 26 assists this season.
Ottawa Senators at St. Louis Blues Free Picks
Predictions: SU Winner – Blues, O/U – Under
Notes
Betting Trends
The total has gone over in three of St. Louis’ last five games.
Power plays and penalty kills may play a critical role in the outcome of this one. The Senators are 6-14 in games where they serve fewer penalty minutes than their opponent and 10-17 when they serve fewer than 10 total penalty minutes. The Blues are 15-7 when the team serves fewer penalty minutes than the opposition and 19-13 in games where their penalty minutes are in the single digits.
Ottawa is 1-5 in games decided by a shootout this season while St. Louis is 3-0 in shootouts.
St. Louis is ranked 12th this season with 7.7 takeaways per game. That figure has trended lower recently, however, as it has created 6.8 takeaways over its last 10 games and 6.6 takeaways over its last five.
Ottawa has scored 2.7 goals per game this year, but is averaging 1.7 goals per match up over its three-game losing skid.
Ottawa skaters have averaged 8.2 takeaways per game over its last five road games, an improvement over its season average of 7.0 takeaways per game (ranked 19th overall).
St. Louis might hold the upper hand if it’s a close one late. The team’s 12-8 in games decided by one goal, while Ottawa is just 9-15 in such games.
