St. Louis Blues Vs. Minnesota Wild (5/4/22) Betting Odds, Prediction, Line Combination, Starting Goalies

By Scott Steinberg | May 04, 2022, 10:51am

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The St. Louis Blues beat the Minnesota Wild 4-0 in game one of their opening round series. 15-year veteran David Perron had a hat trick and assist while goalie Ville Husso made 37 saves for the shutout in his playoff debut for the Blues. St. Louis is +800 to win the Western Conference in 2021-22 and +1600 to win the Stanley Cup this season; the Blues won their only Stanley Cup in franchise history in 2018-19. Minnesota is +1000 to win the Western Conference and +2000 to hoist the 2021-22 Stanley Cup; the furthest they’ve gone in the playoffs in franchise history is the Western Conference Finals in 2002-03.

St. Louis Blues Vs. Minnesota Wild Betting Odds

The Blues are 8-1 in their last nine road games. St. Louis is 7-0 in their last seven after allowing two goals or less in their previous game. The Blues are 1-6 in their last seven playoff games as an underdog. St. Louis is 14-3 in their last 17 meetings with Minnesota. The Wild are 1-6 in their last seven Conference Quarterfinals games. Minnesota is 0-4 in their last four playoff games as a favorite. The Wild are 13-3 in their last 16 games following a home loss of three or more goals. The home team is 5-2 in the last seven meetings between St. Louis and Minnesota; the Wild are the home team in game two.

St. Louis Blues Analysis

Vladimir Tarasenko led the Blues in scoring this season with 82 points (34 goals and 48 assists) in 75 games. The dangerous winger was a +9 with 22 points on the power play and scored a team leading nine game winning goals in 2021-22. In 80 career playoff games the Stanley Cup champion has scored 35 goals. Robert Thomas was second on the Blues in scoring this season with 77 points (20 goals and 57 assists). The 22-year-old center was +17 and scored six game winning goals this year. Thomas has registered 12 points in 35 career playoff games. Pavel Buchnevich, acquired by St. Louis from the New York Rangers this past off-season had 76 points this season (30 goals and 46 assists). The winger in his sixth season was second on the team in plus/minus at +29 while averaging 18:18 of ice time per game. Buchnevich tallied 19 points on the power play this past year. Center Jordan Kyrou was impressive this season scoring 75 points in 74 games. The 23-year-old center had four game winning goals and 19 points on the power play. Captain Ryan O’Reilly has 58 points (21 goals and 37 assists) on the year. He was a +11 with 16 points on the power play this campaign. In game one against the Wild on Monday, he had a goal and an assist in the Blues victory.

Justin Faulk was the leading scorer for all Blues defensemen with 47 points (16 goals and 31 assists) in 2021-22. Additionally, he led St. Louis in plus/minus at +41 while averaging 23:12 of ice time per game. He blocked 101 shots and delivered 149 hits during the regular season. Torey Krug had three assists for St. Louis in game one against Minnesota. He had 43 points on the season (nine goals and 34 assists) while logging 20:33 of ice time per game. Krug was a +23 while blocking 70 shots and delivering 53 hits in 2021-22. In 80 career playoff games with Boston and St. Louis he’s scored 57 points (11 goals and 46 assists).

Ville Husso played in 40 games this season starting 38 of them. He had a record of 25-7-6 with a .919 save percentage and a GAA of 2.56. He had two shutouts on the year and seems to be the goalie head coach Craig Berube is going with in the playoffs. 2018-19 Stanley Cup champion, Jordan Binnington has struggled at times this year, with a record of 18-14-4, a GAA of 3.13 and a save percentage of .901 can win a big game if necessary.

Minnesota Wild Analysis

Kirill Kaprizov finished fourth in the NHL in scoring with 108 points (47 goals and 61 assists). He became the first player in Wild history to score 100 points in a season. Minnesota’s number 97 had 31 points on the power play (14 goals and 17 assists) and five game winning goals this season. The 2020-21 Calder Trophy winner was a +27 while averaging 19:06 of ice time per game this campaign. Kaprizov is +4000 to win the 2021-22 Conn Smythe Trophy. Kevin Fiala was the Wild’s second leading scorer with a career-high 85 points (33 goals and 52 assists). In 2021-22 he was a +23 with 17 points on the power play (five goals and 12 assists). In 31 career playoff games with Nashville and Minnesota, Fiala has 12 points (nine goals and three assists). Mats Zuccarello finished the regular season third on the Wild in scoring with 79 points (24 goals and 55 assists). The 12-year veteran had 28 points on the power play (seven goals and 21 assists). Zuccarello was a +21 while averaging 18:35 of ice time per game in 2021-22. Ryan Hartman was second on the team in goals this season with 34, overall, he had 65 points. He was tied for the team lead in game winning goals wiith seven and third on the team in plus/minus at +31 in 2021-22.

Jared Spurgeon, the Minnesota captain played in 65 games and had 40 points (10 goals and 30 assists) this year. The 12-year veteran was second on the team in plus/minus at +32 and averaged 21:09 of ice time per game. Jonas Brodin was a +9 with 30 points in 73 games in 2021-22. He led the club in blocked shots with 126 while delivering 42 hits and averaging 23:26 of ice time per game. Matt Dumba had 27 points in 57 games this season, while being a +9. The 2019-20 Clancy Trophy winner averaged 23:06 of ice time per game with 84 blocked shots to go along with 114 hits.

Marc-Andre Fleury opened the playoffs in net for the Wild despite the presence of All-Star Cam Talbot on the roster who went 32-12-4 with a .911 save percentage and a 2.76 GAA this season. Since coming over from the Blackhawks a trade deadline, Fleury a three-time Stanley Cup winner, has started 11 games going 9-2-0 with a .910 save percentage and a GAA of 2.74.

St. Louis Blues Vs. Minnesota Wild Picks & Prediction

During the regular season, St. Louis scored 3.8 goals per game, ranking them third in the NHL. On the defensive side, the Blues allowed 2.9 goals per game which was 11^th in the league. Overall St. Louis is 4-1 in their last five games as an underdog. The Wild scored 3.7 goals per game during the regular season, fifth in the NHL. Defensively Minnesota allowed three goals per game, 16^th overall. The Wild are 43-11 in their last 54 games as a home favorite. The last time the Wild had home-ice advantage for the playoffs in 2017, the Blues won the first two games in Minnesota and took the series in five games. I like the Wild to win this game and even up the series at one. But I don’t think they’ll cover the spread of 1.5 goals and the clubs will combine for over six goals with the Wild winning 4-3.

St. Louis Blues Vs. Minnesota Wild Starting Goalies & Line Combination

Scott Steinberg

Scott has been a sports fan since he received a New York Mets jacket as a toddler. He’s been playing fantasy baseball and football for over 20 years, dating back to Frank Thomas being one of his first fantasy baseball picks. As a professional, he has covered the NFL, MLB, NCAAF, and NCAAB and is looked to as the go-to guy for fantasy sports amongst family, friends, and co-workers.