A couple of the least-penalized teams in the National Hockey League, the St. Louis Blues and the Vegas Golden Knights collide at T-Mobile Arena in a Western Conference matchup. Fox Sports Midwest will air the action, which gets underway at 10:30 p.m. ET on Friday, March 30.
St. Louis Blues at Vegas Golden Knights Odds
Vegas comes into the game as the obvious favorite with a moneyline of -160. The line for St. Louis sits at +140 and the oddsmakers have set the Over/Under (O/U) at 6 goals (-110 for the over, -110 for the under).
Vegas is 48-29 straight up (SU) and has earned moneyline bettors 15.2 units this season. Through 77 regular season matches, 38 of the team’s games have gone over the total, while 37 have gone under and just two have pushed. The team is 27-12 SU at home this year.
The Golden Knights have been able to convert on 22.6 percent of their power play chances this season, a mark that’s good enough for seventh-best in the NHL. On the other hand, their penalty kill is ranked ninth overall, and they’ve successfully killed off 82.1 percent of all penalties.
As a collective unit, the Golden Knights have been penalized just 3.2 times per game overall this season, 3.2 per game over their past five matchups total, and 2.8 per game over their last five at home. The team has been forced to kill penalties for just 6.4 minutes per game over their last 10 matchups, overall.
Sporting a .931 save percentage and 28.1 saves per game, Marc-Andre Fleury (28-16-4) has been the top option in goal for Vegas this season. If the Knights, however, decide to give him a breather, head coach Gerard Gallant might turn to Malcolm Subban (13-5-5 record, .917 save percentage, 2.51 goals against average).
Jonathan Marchessault and William Karlsson will each lead the charge for the Golden Knights. Marchessault (73 points) has put up 25 goals and 48 assists and has recorded multiple points in 21 different games this year. Karlsson has 40 goals and 30 assists to his name and has recorded a point in 48 contests.
On the other bench, St. Louis is 43-33 straight up (SU) and has earned 3.3 units for moneyline bettors this year. Through 76 regular season matches, 46 of its games have gone under the total, while 29 have gone over and just one has pushed. As the visiting team, the Blues are 19-18 SU.
The Blues have converted on just 15.8 percent of their power play chances this season, a figure that places them in the bottom- overall among NHL teams. On the other hand, its penalty kill unit is ranked 16th overall and it’s successfully killed off 80.4 percent of all penalties.
St. Louis’ skaters have been penalized only 3.4 times per game in total this season, and 2.0 per game over their last five road outings. The team has had to kill penalties just 4.9 minutes per game over their last 10 outings.
Jake Allen (24.9 saves per game) has been the primary option in goal for St. Louis. Allen has 27 wins, 27 losses, and two overtime losses to his credit, and has registered a .908 save percentage and 2.67 goals against average this year.
For the visiting Blues, the offense will be coordinated by Brayden Schenn (25 goals, 39 assists) and Vladimir Tarasenko (31 goals, 31 assists).
St. Louis Blues vs. Vegas Golden Knights Betting Predictions
Free NHL Tip: SU Winner – Blues, O/U – Over
Notes
Betting Notes
St. Louis is scoring 3.3 goals per game in their past six games (the team’s a perfect 6-0 SU during that span)
Power plays and penalty kills could be critical tonight. The Blues are 18-13 when they serve fewer penalty minutes than their opponent and 33-21 in games where they serve fewer than 10 penalty minutes, in total. The Golden Knights are 18-12 when they serve fewer penalty minutes than the opposition and 37-19 when they’re in the box for less than 10 minutes.
Two of Vegas’ last ten games have ended in a shootout. The team is 1-1 in those games and 3-3 overall in shootouts this season.
The total has gone under in each of Vegas’ last five outings.
Vegas has averaged 11.8 giveaways over its last five home games, a rise over its season average of 9.4 giveaways per game (ranked 16th overall).
St. Louis skaters have averaged 6.4 giveaways over its last five home games, its season average of 6.0 giveaways per game (ranked second in the NHL).
St. Louis skaters have accounted for the 10th-most hits in the league (22.8 per game).
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