In their third and last head-to-head meeting of the regular season, the St. Louis Blues and the Arizona Coyotes meet at Gila River Arena for a Western Conference tilt. The opening face-off takes place at 9 p.m. ET on Saturday, March 31, and it can be seen live on Fox Arizona Plus.
St. Louis Blues at Arizona Coyotes Odds
St. Louis (-140) is currently favored over Arizona (+120), and the Over/Under (O/U) is set at 6 goals (-130 money on the under, +110 on the over).
St. Louis is 43-33 straight up (SU) and has earned 3.3 units for moneyline bettors this season. 46 of its outings have gone under the total, while 29 have gone over and just one has pushed. This 2017-18 Blues team is 19-18 SU on the road.
St. Louis has converted on just 15.8 percent of its power play opportunities this season, a figure that’s ranked 29th in the NHL. On the other hand, its penalty kill is ranked 15th overall, and it has successfully killed off 80.4 percent of its penalties.
The Blue Notes, as a collective unit, have been penalized just 3.4 times per game this season, and 2.0 per game over its last five road outings. The team’s been forced to stave off opponent power plays just 4.9 minutes per game over their last 10 outings.
With a .907 save percentage and 24.8 saves per game, Jake Allen (27-28-3) has been the primary option in goal for St. Louis this season. Allen did just play last night, however, so St. Louis could opt to rest him and roll with Carter Hutton instead (17-13-3 record, .934 save percentage, 2.02 goals against average).
Brayden Schenn and Vladimir Tarasenko will both be relied on to produce for the visiting Blues. Schenn (65 points) has tallied 26 goals and 39 assists, and has recorded multiple points in 14 different games. Tarasenko has 31 goals and 32 assists to his creditand has logged a point in 41 games.
On the other side of the rink, Arizona is 27-51 straight up (SU) and has lost 15.8 units for moneyline bettors thus far. 41 of its outings have gone under the total, while 36 have gone over and just one has pushed. The team is 15-24 SU at home this year.
The Coyotes have converted on just 16.7 percent of their power play opportunities this season, a figure that’s ranked 27th in the NHL. On the other hand, its penalty kill is ranked 21st overall, and it’s successfully killed off 79.6 percent of all penalties.
Arizona players have been whistled for penalties only 3.4 times per game in total this season, and 4.0 per game over their last ten contests. The team has had to stave off opponent power plays just 8.2 minutes per game over their last 10 outings.
Antti Raanta has stopped 27.1 shots per game as the primary netminder in goal for the Coyotes. Raanta has 20 wins, 24 losses, and six OT losses and has registered a 2.33 goals against average and a .927 save percentage this season.
Clayton Keller (23 goals, 39 assists) will lead the offensive counter for Arizona.
St. Louis Blues vs. Arizona Coyotes Betting Picks
Pick: SU Winner – Blues, O/U – Over
Notes
Betting Notes
A majority (55.8 percent) of St. Louis’ wins have come by two or more goals, and the team is 24-21 overall in such games. 11 of Arizona’s wins (40.7 percent) have been decided by two or more goals.
St. Louis is putting up 3.3 goals per game over the team’s six-game winning streak.
Power-play opportunities could prove to be even more critical than usual in tonight’s matchup. The Blues are 18-13 in games where they serve fewer penalty minutes than their opponent and 33-21 when they serve fewer than 10 total penalty minutes. The Coyotes are 11-21 when they serve fewer penalty minutes than the opposition and 18-36 in games where they’re in the box for less than 10 minutes.
Arizona is 2-5 in games decided by a shootout this season while St. Louis is 3-0 in shootouts.
St. Louis might hold the upper hand if this one comes down to the wire. The team’s an impressive 19-12 in games decided by one goal, while Arizona is 16-21 in such games.
The total has gone over in three of Arizona’s last five games.
Arizona has averaged 8.6 giveaways over its last five home games, a rise over its season average of 7.3 giveaways per game (ranked 6th in the NHL).
St. Louis has averaged 6.4 giveaways over its last five home games, its season average of 6.0 giveaways per game (ranked first in the NHL).
This game features a couple of the more aggressive defenses in the league. St. Louis skaters have dished out the league’s 10th-most hits per game (22.8) while the Coyotes have recorded the fourth-most (24.5).
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