The Toronto Maple Leafs are defending home ice again tonight in this cross-conference matchup against the St. Louis Blues. This will be the second, and last, time these two teams will meet in the regular season this year as it’s time to continue our NHL odds series with a Blues-Maple Leafs prediction and pick. 

Both of these teams sit in 3rd place within their respective divisions and are both expected to make the playoffs if they keep up their recent successes. The Blues are 2-1-1 since the All-Star break, as they continue on their third-leg of this four-game road trip. Meanwhile, the Maple Leafs are 3-2 since the All-Star break, coming off of a big win against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday. 

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Here are the Blues-Maple Leafs NHL Odds, Courtesy of FanDuel

NHL Odds: Blues-Maple Leafs Odds

St. Louis Blues: +1.5 (-148) (+168 ML)

Toronto Maple Leafs: -1.5 (+118) (-205 ML)

Over: 6.5 (-102)

Under: 6.5 (-120)

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Why the Blues Can Cover The Spread/Win

The Blues ate a disappointing overtime loss to the Montreal Canadians on Thursday, but have gone 6-3-1 in their past 10 games. Offensively, the Blues have a lot of depth and use it quite often. Vladimir Tarasenko is back to his old ways, Jordan Kyrou is still flying under the radar, and Pavel Buchnevich has been a fantastic addition to the Blues roster so far this year. Defensively, the Blues have a lot of talent, but just not living up to expectations, except on special teams.

St. Louis' penalty kill is exceptional, with an 84% success rate, but their power play is what really fuels their fire, scoring 27.7% of the time, which ranks them second in the league. However, their goaltending is currently going under some construction as Jordan Binnington is no longer the number one guy after posting just a .898 save percentage on the season so far. But no need to fear, Ville Husso has now firmly secured the starting role and he's sporting a .937 save percentage and allowing just 1.91 goals per game in 18 games played. It's not official who will get the start tonight, but Husso is the much better option as of late as he will look to shut down the offensively-minded Toronto Maple Leafs in their own barn.

Why the Maple Leafs Can Cover The Spread/Win

After the win against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday, the Toronto Maple Leafs improve to 18-4-1 at home on the season. Toronto is loaded with their usual suspects on offense, Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, John Tavares, William Nylander, etc. as they look to show up again tonight versus a pesky St. Louis Blues squad. Their main focus will be converting on the power play, as they're scoring at a 31.5% rate, ranking them first in the league. More than likely in net tonight for the Maple Leafs tonight should be Jack Campbell, as he's put up an All-Star season of his own so far. He's played 35 games this year and has given up 2.33 goals per game while sporting a .924 save percentage. The 30-year-old will look to defend the crease tonight and allow his offense to secure a notch in the win column for him.

Final Blues-Maple Leafs Prediction & Pick

Both of these teams are nearly identical with strong depth on both ends of the ice, and strong goaltending. This game could go either way and honestly, I think it depends who starts in net for the Blues tonight. If Binnington gets the starting nod, I'm looking at taking Toronto -1.5, especially considering his struggles all season. However, if Husso plays, St. Louis Moneyline will have way more value than what it's being given credit for. Just to be safe, while I hate these odds, I'm going to snag Leafs Moneyline tonight. Even if Husso starts for the Blues tonight, Toronto still has the firepower to come away with the two points, but it'll definitely be a tight matchup.

Final Blues-Maple Leafs Prediction & Pick: Toronto Maple Leafs (-205)