Detroit Red Wings at St. Louis Blues Betting Preview

>

 

— Thursday, December 09th Detroit Red Wings @ St. Louis Blues

The NHL action continues to heat up, and there are some big games on the schedule Thursday night, including one taking place in St. Louis. The Blues host the Detroit Red Wings, and these teams have had a pretty impressive rivalry throughout the years.

Detroit has been a major surprise this season as they have racked up 29 points on the year. The Red Wings have moved all the way up to third place in the Atlantic Division, and they look like a real threat to advance to the postseason.

St. Louis has 30 points on the year, and they were expected to be one of the better teams in the Western Conference. The Blues are now in second place in the Central Division, and they are going to be a tough team to beat once the Stanley Cup Playoffs begin.

The St. Louis Blues are the betting favorites on the moneyline at -175 over the Detroit Red Wings.

Detroit Needs More Defense

If the Detroit Red Wings are going to stay in the playoff race as the season moves along, then they are going to have to get better goaltending. Detroit is allowing nearly 3.2 goals per game, and that could be a real problem in this matchup against St. Louis.

Alex Nedeljkovic has gone 8-4-3 in net this season, and he should draw the starting assignment in this meeting. Detroit has killed off just 75 percent of their penalties this season, and that could be a major issue in this one.

Detroit is averaging 2.77 goals per game this season, and they will need to get better on the power play if they want to be a real threat to reach the playoffs.

Blues Can Be Explosive

St. Louis is averaging 3.28 goals per game this season, and they are loaded with offensive talent. The Blues are scoring on 30 percent of their power-play chances, and that always seems to provide plenty of offense.

Jordan Kyrou has been the best offensive performer for St. Louis this season as he has racked up 25 points on the year. Newcomer Brandon Saad has been terrific as well as he leads the team with 11 goals.

Goaltender Jordan Binnington is giving up just 2.8 goals per game, and he will be in net for this matchup. The Blues are solid defensively, but they prefer to win games with the offense.

Blues Beat Up on Detroit

The Detroit Red Wings have been playing much better hockey of late, but there are still some pretty big flaws on this team. Scoring goals continues to be a challenge for the Red Wings at times, and that is going to come back and bite them in this game.

St. Louis continues to look like one of the best teams in the NHL, and that offense is going to be extremely hard to stop in this matchup. The Blues will take control of this game early and then put it away with a late goal in the third period.

Detroit just doesn’t have what it takes to pull off a win at St. Louis over the mighty Blues. Bet the St. Louis Blues -1.5 as they win this game by at least two goals on Thursday night.

Keep up with your latest NHL news coverage and betting pick previews at The Dunkel Index.