St. Louis Blues vs. Winnipeg Jets Game 7 Prediction, Odds
Winnipeg opened as a -155 favourite on the NHL odds with a total of 5.5 goals.
Blues vs. Jets NHL Playoff Betting Odds
This is the lone NHL game on Sunday. Should Winnipeg win, it would host either Dallas or Colorado in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals early next week. Should St. Louis win, it would visit either the Stars or Avalanche in Game 1. And a Blues win would continue a troubling trend for Presidents’ Trophy winners, which the Jets were this regular season, failing to win the Stanley Cup. It hasn’t happened since the 2012-13 Chicago Blackhawks.
On the updated odds to win the West, which may change a little after Game 7 of Avalanche-Stars on Saturday night, the Jets are +600 and the Blues +1500 longshots. This marks the fifth straight year with multiple Game 7s in the opening round of the playoffs, the second longest stretch in history behind a nine-year run from 2008-2016. There has now been at least one Game 7 in the first best-of-seven round in 21 of the past 23 postseasons.
It’s the first-ever Game 7 in the city of Winnipeg. This iteration of the Jets won their only previous Game by a score of 5-1 at Nashville in the 2018 second round. The original Jets franchise played in two Game 7s and lost at Edmonton in 1990 and at Vancouver in 1992. St. Louis is 10-8 all-time in Game 7s, most such games among all non-Original Six franchises. It’s the first for the Blues since winning Game 7 of the 2019 Stanley Cup Finals in Boston. The Blues also had a Game 7 win earlier in that postseason and are the last Cup winners with multiple Game 7 victories.
St. Louis Blues
The Blues won each home game in the series by at least three goals and scored a minimum of five goals in each but lost two of three in Winnipeg by multiple goals and didn’t score more than three in any. Cam Fowler, Brayden Schenn and Nathan Walker scored in a 2:13 span of the second period in Game 6 to help the Blues pull away. Richmond Hill native Jordan Binnington has started each game in net and that won’t change. He’s 2-0 with a 0.82 GAA career in Game 7s, both in 2019.
St. Louis has won four consecutive Game 7s and can become the fifth team in NHL history to win at least five straight, following a quartet that all win six in a row: Carolina (2006-2022), New York Rangers (2012-2015), Boston (1983-1994) and Detroit (1949-1964). Blues head coach Jim Montgomery is 1-2 in his career in Game 7 but this is his first with St. Louis. Blues defenceman Colton Parayko is a 4-0 in Game 7s, one of four players who have an active streak of at least four Game 7 wins to begin their career, along with Los Angeles teammates Trevor Lewis (5-0) and Drew Doughty (4-0) and Edmonton’s Evander Kane (4-0). St. Louis is 0-6 in its past six road games.
Winnipeg Jets
We projected the Jets to lose Game 6 in St. Louis by a score of 3-2, but it wasn’t that close as Winnipeg was routed for the third straight road game in the series on Friday, 5-2. It may be legitimately time to worry about Winnipeg goaltender and sure-fire Vezina Trophy winner Connor Hellebuyck. He allowed five goals on 23 shots, including four goals on eight shots during a 5-minute, 23-second stretch in the second period. Hellebuyck has been pulled in each game in St. Louis this series. He has won each home start but hasn’t been nearly as dominant at Canada Life Centre as he was during the regular season. Hellebuyck did win his lone previous Game 7 start in 2018 at Nashville.
Jets captain Mark Scheifele didn’t travel for Game 6 due to an undisclosed injury suffered in Game 5 and not clear yet if he will be available Sunday. Fellow forward Nikolaj Ehlers made his series debut in Game 6 off injury, and he was minus-two with three shots on goal in 16:00. Home teams are 116-82 all-time in Game 7s – not counting Saturday night’s Avalanche-Stars matchup. While at least six goals have been scored in every game but one of this series, Game 7s tend to be lower scoring as teams play a more defensive style.
STL
WIN