A pair of squads residing in two separate conferences will go head-to-head on Tuesday as the St. Louis Blues will meet up with the Philadelphia Flyers. Join us for our NHL odds series where our Blues-Flyers prediction and pick will be made.
After starting off flawlessly with a 3-0 record to begin the season, the St. Louis Blues haven't won since. Simply put, it's been as ugly as it gets as the Blues have dropped seven games in a row and are desperate to return to the winning column. Coming off a disheartening 3-1 loss to the Bruins during their east coast road trip, can St. Louis put together a quality 60 minutes to get the losing monkey off their backs?
Quite the opposite has occurred for this Flyers organization, as Philly has jumped out to a 6-3-2 record and has been one of a few teams in the Eastern Conference that has surprised the NHL up to this point. Fresh off of a 2-1 road win in Ottawa that helped snap a three-game losing streak, Philadelphia is primed and ready to go on a stretch of winning starting tonight in their home building.
Here are the Blues-Flyers NHL odds, courtesy of FanDuel
NHL Odds: Blues-Flyers Odds
St. Louis Blues: -1.5 (+205)
Philadelphia Flyers: +1.5 (-260)
Over: 6 (-110)
Under: 6 (-110)
Why The Blues Could Cover The Spread
There's the good, the bad, the ugly, and the St. Louis Blues. At first glance, the Blues have allowed a couple of losses in a row to blossom into a lengthy losing skid that is currently tied for a franchise record for most defeats in regulation consecutively. Without a doubt, something needs to change if St. Louis is wanting to finally return to the win column and cover the spread in doing so.
For starters, it will be vital for the Blues to get things going in the goal department. The return of Brandon Saad to the lineup against the Bruins was a welcomed boost, but St. Louis still was only able to pot a singular goal and only had 27 shots on goal through three periods played.
In order for the Blues to possess a more ferocious offensive attack with the puck in their possession, be on the lookout to see if St. Louis can get right-winger and former Tampa Bay Lightning skates-men Vladimir Tarasenko to start to catch fire. Since coming over from Tampa, Tarasenko leads the team with only four goals. Finding a way to get one of their better players on this roster more scoring chances should be priority number one in finding a way to cover the spread.
In addition, the best part about the St. Louis Blues revolves around their all-world goaltenders. With Jordan Binnington and Thomas Greiss posting solid stats on paper, there is no question that the Blues' best chance to win comes from in net. As a whole, St. Louis is giving up a whopping 3.80 goals per game, but this is mostly due to shaky defense and not being able to possess the puck.
Why The Flyers Could Cover The Spread
Unlike the Blues, the Flyers were able to snap a losing streak before it got too out of hand. In the 2-1 victory over the Senators, despite the offense not necessarily being at its best, they certainly could not have played better defense. Even more importantly for the team's success in the long-run, goalie Carter Hart has looked like one of the top goaltenders in the entire NHL and has been absolutely electric in net. In fact, Carter's goals allowed currently sits at under 2.00 per game at 1.97, and is coming off back-to-back stellar outings in which he only surrendered two goals combined.
Also, Carter boasts the second-best save percentage in all of hockey with a .946 mark. Obviously, the Flyers will ride with Carter in hopes of having the outstanding net-minder ball out to give the team the best chance at covering the spread versus the Blues this evening.
As good as the goaltending has been for this squad, the one area of concern for Philadelphia has been too many lackluster offensive showings. At first glance, the Flyers must give Carter more goal support to take the pressure off of him and instead force the Blues to play as mistake-free as possible. The Flyers are only averaging 2.55 goals per game, and if they cannot keep the puck in the Blues' zone for a majority of this contest, then Philly will be in serious danger of being the team that gives St. Louis their first win in what seems like an eternity.
Final Blues-Flyers Prediction & Pick
As much as Philadelphia has struggled on offense with only four goals in their last three games, the goaltending prowess of Carter and the Blues' ability to currently find ways to lose should give the Flyers the edge.
Final Blues-Flyers Prediction & Pick: Flyers +1.5 (-260)
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