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The Blues-Red Wings betting lines for Wednesday night had Detroit at -115 and St. Louis -105. The total was set at 5.
St. Louis Blues (27-15-7) at Detroit Red Wings (23-14-8)
Detroit -115, St Louis -105; Total: 5
Old Norris Division rivals from St. Louis and Detroit face off in an inter-conference showdown on Wednesday.
St. Louis, third in the Western Conference’s Central Division, has won four of its last five after a 1-1-3 skid. Detroit, second in the Eastern Conference’s Atlantic Division, has turned things around in 2016—after finishing December on a 2-5-2 slide, they are 5-1-1 in the new year, with all five wins on the road.
St. Louis has lost their last four meetings to Detroit. In their last five meetings, the score has gone under. When you look at their past 10 meetings, the special teams numbers are staggering: St. Louis boasts a 31.4% power-play conversion rate, along with an 88.1% success rate on the penalty kill. Detroit, meanwhile, is just 11.9% successful on the power play and 68.6% while a man down.
The fact that Detroit has had greater success against St. Louis, these numbers notwithstanding, indicates their superiority at even strength against this particular opponent.
The Blues have been a regular-season powerhouse for years; it’s their lack of playoff success which has kept from becoming an elite team. As if on cue, St. Louis is putting together another solid campaign despite the rigors of the Central Division, by far the NHL’s most difficult.
The Blues do hold the trump card in this match with the best overall player, Vladimir Tarasenko (25 G, 21 A, 46 PTS). The 24-year-old Russian is living up to the massive contract he signed in the off-season with continued goal scoring; only Alex Ovechkin has a better shot.
Kevin Shattenkirk (9 G, 18 A, 2 7 PTS) is a capable defenseman on both ends—and is highly coveted, having been the subject of trade rumors. One gets the sense that St. Louis’ Cup-winning window is slowly shutting, with the restrictions of the salary cap.
Petr Mrazek (16-8-4, 2.10 GAA, .931 SV%), Detroit’s likely starting goalie, is 5-0-1 in his last six starts, the only loss coming in a shootout. Pavel Datsyuk (6 G, 16 A, 22 PTS), the team’s most skilled player, has played just 30 games this season due to injury, but the Red Wings have received ample production from youngsters Dylan Larkin (14 G, 16 A, 30 PTS), Tomas Tatar (14 G, 13 A, 27 PTS) and Gustav Nyquist (13 G, 12 A, 25 PTS).
Tatar and Nyquist, along with many other players on the Red Wings roster, began their careers with coach Jeff Blashill in Grand Rapids (AHL). They’ve all made it to the big leagues now, and their impressive statistics can be tied to their continuity as a unit.
- Carrie Stroup, Gambling911.com Senior Reporter
