Winnipeg Jets vs. St. Louis Blues Game 4 Prediction, NHL Playoff Odds
The Jets look for a commanding 3-1 lead and are -125 favourites on the NHL odds with a total of 5.5 goals.
Jets vs. Blues NHL Betting Odds
It’s a great day of playoff hockey on Sunday with four games, and the first of those is Game 4 of this Western Conference first-round matchup. They say no series truly begins until a home team loses, and that has yet to happen here after the Blues routed the Jets 7-2 in Game 3 on Thursday night.
Most expected this to be a low-scoring series with sure-fire Vezina Trophy winner Connor Hellebuyck of Winnipeg opposed by very solid Jordan Binnington of St. Louis. Game 2 only had three total goals, but there were a combined 17 scored in the others.
On the updated series line, Winnipeg is -425 (was -1400 entering Game 3) and St. Louis +320 (was +800). That the series ends in five games is the +170 favourite. I’d still lean seven at +200. Jets in five games is also the +175 leader with Blues in six the +900 long shot.
All-time in a best-of-seven series it leads 2-1, Winnipeg is 2-0. In all-time Game 4s, the Jets are 3-7 overall and 2-4 on the road. St. Louis is 8-21 in series it trails 2-1, and 5-10 when it started on the road. In Game 4s, the Blues are 27-40 overall and 15-20 at home.
Winnipeg Jets
Even the best of teams and best of goaltenders can have a clunker of a game in a playoff series, and that was the case for the Jets and Connor Hellebuyck in Game 3 as they had their doors blown off in St. Louis, 7-2. The Blues scored 48 seconds in and never let up.
It didn’t help that the Jets were without blueliner Dylan DeMelo due to illness. Colin Miller took DeMelo’s place in the lineup and every defence pair was different than in the first two games.
“Obviously you develop chemistry with a partner,” Josh Morrissey said.
Needless to say, forward Kyle Connor failed trying to become the first player in NHL history to score the winning goal in each of his team’s first three games in a postseason. Thursday’s goals were from David Gustafsson (first of series) and Neal Pionk (also first).
The Jets were 1-for-4 on the power play but also gave the Blues eight chances with the man advantage, and they scored on three of them. Connor Hellebuyck stopped 19 of 25 shots before being pulled for Eric Comrie in mop-up duty. As we noted in the Game 3 preview, Hellebuyck’s road splits during the season were very good but not near his home numbers.
St. Louis Blues
Desperate teams in their first home playoff game always come out firing immediately, and the Blues simply overwhelmed the Jets in the first period Thursday not just with three goals but with their physicality in a franchise-record 13th straight home victory.
Pavel Buchnevich had a hat trick and assist and wasn’t even the No. 1 star. His goal 48 seconds into the game set the tone and was the fastest playoff goal for the franchise since Game 4 of the 2019 Stanley Cup Finals. The No. 1 star was blueliner Cam Fowler with a goal and four assists. The points were a playoff franchise record for the position and Fowler became just the eighth defenceman in NHL history with five or more points in a playoff game.
St. Louis scored seven goals in a playoff game for the fifth time in franchise history and first since 1998. The Blues have scored at least one power-play goal in three consecutive games to start a postseason for the third time in the past 20 years.
We thought it was possible that backup goalie Joel Hofer might have gotten a shot in Game 3, but it remained Jordan Binnington and he certainly wouldn’t be benched now. The Richmond Hill native hasn’t lost at home since Feb. 4 in overtime vs. Edmonton. The world has changed just a little since then.
WIN
STL