Welcome to another edition of NHL Predictions! It is Saturday. The weekend is upon us. Of course, for our school-age readers in some states, you have not had much school this week anyway due to snow. Regardless of what your week looked like, we are glad you are here to join us as we preview and predict games around the league. Our prediction today looks at the game between the St. Louis Blues and the Columbus Blue Jackets.
NHL Predictions
St. Louis Blues vs. Columbus Blue Jackets
Time: 7:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST)
TV: FanDuel Sports Network Midwest; FanDuel Sports Network Ohio; ESPN+
The Blues and Blue Jackets meet Saturday night for the final time this season. Just last Saturday, the Blue Jackets beat the Blues 6-4. It was an interesting game, to say the least. After two periods, the Jackets led 2-0 before both teams erupted for eight goals combined in the third period.
Blues Continue to Score
The Blues won their last game, 6-2. The win continued the team’s trend of scoring at least four goals. Following Thursday’s win, the Blues have now scored at least four goals in seven of their last eight games. Furthermore, the Blues started another trend on Thursday. For the second straight game, the Blues forced their opponent to make a change in goal mid-game.
After the loss on Tuesday, head coach Jim Montgomery expressed concern that the team lacked the grit needed to finish the game. The team showed grit and then some on Thursday. The Blues took a 4-0 lead in the first ten minutes of the game. They continued to keep their foot on the gas pedal, refusing to allow the Anaheim Ducks an opportunity to climb back into the game. While the Ducks are a struggling team, it is important that the Blues performed the way they did. The Ducks are a team the Blues should beat. For a team whose sights are set on making the playoffs, beating teams that are struggling is key. Furthermore, it is important to beat them convincingly.
Blue Jackets on a Winning Streak
The win over the Blues has started a small winning streak for the Blue Jackets. The Blue Jackets have now won three games in a row. Furthermore, the Jackets are scoring a lot of goals. The Jackets have scored at least four goals in their last five games.
The Jackets will put their win streak on the line in a city where they have not had success recently. In their last four trips to St. Louis, the Blue Jackets have lost three of those four games. However, they did win their latest trip to St. Louis last season, in which case they swept the season series against the Blues. Perhaps the Blue Jackets are starting a new streak in St. Louis, while at the same preserving their current winning streak.
Prediction
This is another tough prediction to make. Both teams are scoring. Both teams are coming off convincing wins. How do we determine who to give the edge to? Well, we are looking between the pipes. Jordan Binnington is likely to start on Saturday for the Blues. Despite a rough game on Tuesday, Binnington is capable of shutting down a hot offence. He is a former All-Star, a Stanley Cup champion, and the Blues all-time wins leader for a reason. For that, we are picking the Blues to win in this round of NHL Predictions.
Prediction: Blues win 6-3.
Prop Bets
The over/under is set at 5.5 goals. We are taking the over with nine goals. Given how these two teams have been scoring, this seems like the right thing to do.
For any time-scorers, we are taking Kirill Marchenko for the Blue Jackets. For the Blues, we are taking Jordan Kyrou to score his twentieth goal of the season.
Main Photo Credit: Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images
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The post NHL Predictions: January 11 St. Louis Blues vs Columbus Blue Jackets appeared first on Last Word On Hockey.