The St. Louis Blues and Minnesota Wild meet Monday in game 1 of the West First Round NHL Playoffs at the Xcel Energy Center. The St. Louis Blues look for a win after winning 10 of their last 13 games. The Minnesota Wild look for a win after winning 10 of their last 12 games.
The St. Louis Blues are averaging 3.8 goals per game and are scoring on 26.5 percent of their power play opportunities. Vladimir Tarasenko leads St. Louis with 34 goals, Robert Thomas has 57 assists and Pavel Buchnevich has 199 shots on goal. Defensively, the St. Louis Blues are allowing 2.9 goals per game and are killing 84.4 percent of their opponent’s power plays. Jordan Binnington has allowed 112 goals on 1,135 shots faced, and Ville Husso has given up 100 goals on 1,236 shots.
The Minnesota Wild are averaging 3.7 goals per game and are scoring on 20.9 percent of their power play opportunities. Kirill Kaprizov leads Minnesota with 47 goals, Mats Zuccarello has 55 assists and Kevin Fiala has 262 shots on goal. Defensively, the Minnesota Wild are allowing 3.1 goals per game and are killing 75.8 percent of their opponent’s power plays. Cam Talbot has allowed 132 goals on 1,488 shots faced, and Marc-Andre Fleury has given up 30 goals on 334 shots.
The Blues are 7-1 in their last 8 road games and 12-3 in their last 15 overall. The Wild are 51-16 in their last 67 home games and 21-7 in their last 28 overall. The over is 19-6-1 in Blues last 26 overall. The over is 37-18-1 in Wild last 56 home games. The Blues are 5-2 in the last 7 meetings in Minnesota and 13-3 in the last 16 meetings.
The Minnesota Wild are going to get the benefit of the doubt because they’re at home, and they’ve been slightly the more consistent team this season. However, the Blues beat the Wild twice recently in overtime spots, they’ve won five straight against the Wild and nine of the last 10 meetings against them overall. The Blues have shown time and time again they can win on the road, and they’ve been nice in the underdog role as well. Not taking anything from the Wild, but the value is with the Blues and the plus money.