The St. Louis Blues followed an eight-game losing streak with a seven-game winning streak. The St. Louis Blues had that winning streak snapped in their last matchup but aim to get back on the winning track against the Tampa Bay Lightning. For their part, the Lightning had a four-game winning streak snapped on Thanksgiving eve.
The Blues vs. Lightning is one of the most interesting games on Saturday’s NHL schedule. We’ll preview the NHL odds and stats to give you our Blues vs Lightning prediction. The puck drop is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET on TNT from the Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida.
Matchup Preview
The Blues have won seven of their last eight games, with five games exceeding a total goals of 6.5 (4-1), while five games have surpassed a 1.5 goal spread (4-1).
The Tampa Bay Lighting have won five of their last eight games, with four games hitting the over on a total goals line of 6.5 (3-1), while five of the Lightning’s last eight NHL games have exceeded a 1.5 goal spread (3-2).
These recent performances will factor into our Blues vs Lightning prediction at the end of this article.
St. Louis Blues vs. Tampa Bay Lightning Odds Breakdown
The Tampa Bay Lightning are the moneyline favorite, listed with odds ranging from -175 to -190, while the St. Louis Blues are listed with odds ranging from +145 to +158. The Lightning have an 11-8 straight-up moneyline record, while the Blues are 10-9 straight-up on the moneyline.
The total goals line is set to 6.5. The over is listed with odds ranging from +104 to -105, while the under is listed between -120 and -125. St. Louis has a 10-7 over/under record, while Tampa Bay has a 10-8 over/under record.
St. Louis is listed at +1.5 on the puck line spread, with odds ranging from -165 to -177, while Tampa Bay is listed at -1.5, with odds from +125 to +145. The Blues have an 8-11 against-the-spread record, while the Lightning are 7-12 against the spread.
St. Louis Blues vs. Tampa Bay Lightning Betting Preview
St. Louis Blues Preview
The St. Louis Blues enter Friday’s NHL matchup with a 10-9-0 record. The Blues’ seven-game winning streak had them climbing the NHL standings back to where we expect the Blues standings to be: competitive and in the mix.
In their last game, the Blues lost 6-2 to the Buffalo Sabres on November 23 to snap their impressive seven-game winning streak. Pavel Buchnevich and Brayden Schenn scored for the Blues, while Jordan Binnington made twenty-six saves in the loss.
The St. Louis Blues’ current goaltending rotation has been consistent, with Jordan Binnington starting three or four games in a row before Thomas Griess gets a start. Binnington has played the last three games, and the Blues are playing on back-to-back nights.
We’re leaning toward Griess getting the start against the Lightning on Friday night, with Binnington returning to the net on Saturday against the Florida Panthers. If Greiss does get the start against the Lightning, he has a 1-3-0 record, a 3.76 goals-against average, and a .906 save percentage. If Binnington gets the start, he has a 9-6-0 record, with a 2.98 goals-against average and a .905 save percentage.
St. Louis’ team NHL stats are working their way back to something emblematic of their recent performance, not their early season struggles. The Blues are averaging 2.84 goals per game on 30.3 shots while giving up 3.42 goals against on 33.5 shots. The Blues’ powerplay has been very good, scoring twelve powerplay goals and converting on 23.5% of their chances, while the penalty kill has been awful: fourteen powerplay goals against and a 68.2% penalty killing efficiency, raking them 30th in the NHL.
The St. Louis Blues have the more notable NHL injury report, with Colton Parayko, Vladimir Tarasenko, and Torey Krug all listed as day-to-day and Brandon Saad listed as out.
Tampa Bay Lightning Preview
The Tampa Bay Lightning enter Friday’s matchup with the Blues with an 11-7-1 record. Although they’ve been to three-straight Stanley Cup Finals, the Tampa Bay Lightning will be looking up at the Boston Bruins in the NHL standings all season.
In their previous game, the Lightning lost to the Boston Bruins 5-3 on November 21. Nicholas Paul scored twice for the Lightning, Rudolfs Balcers added a goal, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made twenty-four saves in the loss. Notably, Tampa Bay’s penalty killers gave up two powerplay goals to the Bruins.
The Tampa Bay Lightning stats as a team are pretty good so far this season, with one exception: goals against per game. The Lightning have scored 3.37 goals per game on 31.8 shots while giving up 3.16 goals on 33.5 shots.
The Lightning powerplay is again amongst the NHL’s best, converting on 25% of their opportunities and scoring nineteen powerplay goals. Tampa Bay’s penalty killers didn’t fair well against the Bruins, increasing their powerplay goals against to sixteen and dropping their penalty-killing efficiency to 78.1%.
Andrei Vasilevskiy’s performance this season has been an issue for the Lightning. Although he has a winning record and a +.900 save percentage, everyone expected Vasilevskiy to be better and will need to improve as the season progresses. Vasilevskiy has a 7-6-1 record, a 3.00 goals-against average, and a .903 save percentage.
However, we expect Tampa Bay to stick to their goaltending rotation and for Brian Elliot to get the start against the Blues. Over their last eleven games, Vasilevskiy has started three games in a row before Elliot gets a start. According to the Lightning’s NHL schedule, it’s Elliot’s turn to start.
Elliot has a 4-1-0 record, with a 3.37 goals-against average and a .891 save percentage. The Lightning needs better goaltending if they intend on battling the Boston Bruins in the Atlantic Divison.
St. Louis Blues vs. Tampa Bay Lightning Pick and Prediction
Our first Blues vs Lightning prediction is to take the over. We think both NHL teams will be starting their backup goalies, while each team has surpassed 6.5 total goals in at least three of their previous five NHL matchups. We’ll take the over and a final score of 4-3 Tampa Bay.
Our second Blues vs Lightning prediction is to take the Lightning to win on the moneyline. They are the favorite for a reason and should win this game outright. We don’t think the Lightning will cover the spread but will win a one-goal game, potentially in overtime.
Our third and final Blues vs Lightning prediction is for the Blues to cover the spread of +1.5. The St. Louis Blues have looked like the competitive team we expected during their winning streak. We think they will keep this close and within one goal until the final buzzer, although nhl picks
say they could potentially win outright. We’re taking the points and the Blues +1.5 on the puck line spread.
Final Score Prediction: Tampa Bay Lightning 4 – St. Louis Blues 3
Pick: Over, Tampa Bay Lightning moneyline, St. Louis Blues +1.5
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