Welcome to another edition of NHL Predictions! Like always, we are looking at games around the league, highlighting key matchups and giving our prediction on which team comes away with two points. Today’s prediction takes us to St. Louis, Missouri. The St. Louis Blues are hosting the San Jose Sharks in a Western Conference battle.
NHL Predictions
St. Louis Blues vs. San Jose Sharks
Time: 8:00 Eastern Time
TV: FanDuel Sports Network Midwest, NBC Sports Bay Area & California
The Blues and Sharks meet Thursday for the second time this season. The Blue Note won the first matchup in the opening week of the season, 5-4, in overtime. Furthermore, the Blues erased a 4-1 third period deficit to win. The win extended the Blues lead in the all-time series, 89-63-2-2.
Blues Hoping Good Hockey Produces Good Results
The Blues enter play on Thursday with a 8-11-1 record. In addition, the team has lost their last two games. However, it has not been due to a lack of effort. The Blues have played good hockey in these recent losses. Unfortunately, the other team was trying to win as well. However, a team playing well but losing will always be better than a team that looks lost on the ice. With that being said, the Blues will clearly look to grab a win to end the small losing streak.
The Blues are getting healthy, with Robert Thomas returning to the lineup earlier in the week. In addition, the team has seen defenceman Scott Perunovich impress on the ice. The defenceman who came with high expectations when drafted is showing the offensive capabilities the team thought they were drafting. Perunovich has scored two goals in the last five games. He did struggle in the defensive zone a bit in the last game. However, it is important to remember Perunovich profiles as an offensive-defenceman. As long as the Blues see the contributions on offence, they can overlook any defensive liabilities.
Sharks on Night 2 of a Back-to-Back
The Sharks flew into St. Louis after a game in Texas on Wednesday. The Sharks lineup is likely to look different on Thursday against the Blues since they are playing on two-straight nights. For Wednesday, the Sharks used the same lineup as they did on Monday.
#SJSharks lines, d-pairs in warmups
Eklund-Granlund-Zetterlund
Goodrow-Celebrini-W. Smith
Dellandrea-Wennberg-Toffoli
Grundstrom-Kunin-KostinThrun-Ceci
Ferraro-Liljegren
Walman-RuttaBlackwood
— Curtis Pashelka (@CurtisPashelka) November 19, 2024
Mackenzie Blackwood did start in Dallas on Wednesday. As a result, we will likely see Yaroslav Askarov between the pipes on Thursday.
For first-overall pick Macklin Celebrini, he will get his first experience of hockey in St. Louis. Celebrini already has a monumental moment against the Blues in his short career. His first NHL goal came against the Blues in the game earlier in the season.
Prediction
The Sharks will be playing the second of back-to-back games. The Blues have had a day of rest since their last game. Furthermore, the Blue Note have been playing good hockey as of late, even if the wins have not showed up on their record. This may be another high-scoring game, but we are picking the Blues to take a valuable two points Thursday.
Blues win 5-4.
Prop Bets
FanDuel has the over/under set at 5.5 goals. We are taking the over with nine combined goals.
For prop bets, we are going to take a specific bet. A 5-4 Blues win is set at +6,000. For anytime scorers, we like Robert Thomas at +220 for the Blues and Fabian Zetterlund at +300. Furthermore, we are also taking a bet that Thomas scores two or more goals at +1,600.
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Main Photo: Stan Szeto-Imagn Images
