Vancouver Canucks vs. St. Louis Blues Prediction, NHL Odds
A pair of disappointing teams face off in St. Louis on Thursday night as the Vancouver Canucks visit the Blues. St. Louis opened as favourites to win on the NHL odds.
Canucks vs. Blues NHL Betting Odds
Both these clubs are going to miss the Western Conference playoffs and both already have entered seller mode ahead of the Trade Deadline. Vancouver shipped Bo Horvat to the New York Islanders, and St. Louis sent Vladimir Tarasenko to the New York Rangers, and captain Ryan O’Reilly and Noel Acciari to Toronto. St. Louis is projected to have approximately $6.75 million (US) in cap space at the deadline so it might not be done trading and there’s even talk the Blues might try to acquire Sharks forward Timo Meier with the thinking of signing him long term.
Thursday is the second of three regular-season meetings between the teams with the Canucks back in St. Louis on March 28. The Blues won in Vancouver 5-1 on Dec. 19. Jordan Kyrou had three goals for his first career hat trick and added an assist. Tarasenko had three assists and Nick Leddy added two helpers, while Jordan Binnington stopped 33 shots. Ilya Mikheyev scored for the Canucks, and Spencer Martin made 22 saves.
The road team is 8-2 in the past 10 meetings.
Vancouver Canucks
Vancouver was down 4-2 at Nashville with just over a minute left in regulation on Tuesday but got goals from Connor Garland (12th of season) at 18:53 and Andrei Kuzmenko (second of game and 26th of season) at 19:44 to send it to overtime but then lost 5-4 in a shootout, failing to score once in it. Pretty symbolic of the entire season. Elias Pettersson had an assist and has eight points (2G, 6A) in his past three games. Coach Rick Tocchet said defenceman Luke Schenn was a healthy scratch because of the possibility he may be traded, and fellow blueliner Oliver Ekman-Larsson was placed on injured reserve prior to the game. Centre Curtis Lazar (3G, 2A) was out with a lower-body injury and not expected here. The Canucks are 2-11 in their past 13 road games.
St. Louis Blues
The Blues lost their third in a row Tuesday, 4-1 at Carolina, and have totaled just four goals in that stretch – not a huge shock considering whom the team has traded away. Justin Faulk (seventh of season) had the lone goal Tuesday. Jordan Binnington stopped 32 of 36 shots to fall to 21-20-2 with a 3.29 GAA and .893 SV. Winger Pavel Buchnevich (16G, 27A) was out with a lower-body injury, but Coach Craig Berube said Tuesday that Buchnevich will probably be ready to return Thursday. Top-six defenceman Torey Krug left with a lower-body injury. Fellow blueliner Marco Scandella, who had hip surgery in August, had four hits and two blocked shots in 15:43 in his season debut. The Blues are 5-2 in their past seven Thursday games.
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