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The best-of-seven opening round Central Division matchup between the St. Louis Blues and the Minnesota Wild kicks off this Saturday’s playoff action in the NHL with the Blues holding a commanding 3-1 series lead. Game 5 is set to get underway at 3 p.m. (ET) and it will be broadcast nationally on NBC.
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St. Louis at Minnesota Game Overview<br />
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The Blues cruised to a 3-0 series lead by outscoring Minnesota 7-3 in the first three games of this Western Conference tilt, but they hit a bump in the road on Wednesday night in a 2-0 loss as +103 home underdogs in Game 4. The total has now stayed UNDER a closing five-goal betting line in the first four games. Wednesday’s loss snapped a six-game winning streak dating back to early April and the total has now stayed UNDER or ended as a PUSH in 11 of their last 14 games.
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Left winger Jaden Schwartz and defenseman Joel Edmundson each tallied a pair of goals in the first three games, but the entire St. Louis offense was shut down on Wednesday night. Vladimir Tarasenko was the team leader in both goals (39) and total points (75) in the regular season, but has remained rather quiet in this series with two assists. Jake Allen has gone the distance in goal and he comes into Saturday’s matchup with a goals-against average of 1.17 to complement a lofty .966 save percentage.
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Minnesota tallied the second-most points in the West this year (106) behind a record of 49-25-8 while going 27-12-2 on its home ice and the ended the regular season on a high note with a four-game winning streak. That all seems to be a distant memory after an anemic offense dug the Wild into a deep hole to start the postseason. The total had gone OVER in their last five regular season games at home with an average of 4.8 goals before scoring just two goals on their home ice in their first two playoff games.
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The Wild were actually the second-highest scoring team in the NHL this season with an average of 3.2 goals per game. Center Eric Staal led the way with 28 goals, but he has been shutout in the first four games. Left winger Zach Parise and center Charlie Coyle have provided the bulk of the scoring with a combined four goals. Coyle scored the eventual game winner in Game 4 with Martin Hanzal adding an insurance score in the second period. Hats off the goalie Devan Dubnyk for turning away the 28 shots he faced on Wednesday night. He could very well be Minnesota’s only hope to keeping this series alive if this offensive slump continues.
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St. Louis at Minnesota Game Betting Trends<br />
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The Blues have gone 19-7 in their last 26 road games and they are 5-2 in their last seven games against a team with a winning record. The total has stayed UNDER or ended as a PUSH in 11 of their last 14 road games.
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The Wild are 6-1 in their last seven games playing on two day’s rest, but they are just 4-10 in their last 14 games against a team with a winning record. The total has gone OVER or ended as a PUSH in 11 of their last 14 games played on Saturday.
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Head-to-head in this divisional tilt, the road team has won four of the last five meetings and the total has stayed UNDER in four of the last five meetings in Minnesota.
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