Minnesota Wild at St. Louis Blues Preview/Prop Pick

The NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs continue on Friday night as the St. Louis Blues host the Minnesota Wild. This series is currently tied up at one win apiece, and the Blues have taken over home-ice advantage from the Wild.

Minnesota finished in second place in the Central Division with 113 points, and they were a big surprise. The Wild got shut out in the series opener, but the young talent showed up in a 6-2 victory in Game 2 of the series.

St. Louis is a team that has had plenty of recent postseason success, and it is a team that is loaded with veterans. The Blues did their job by stealing a game on the road, but they can’t give that advantage back by losing at home. 

The St. Louis Blues are the moneyline betting favorites at -119 for Game 3 of this NHL Playoff series.

Kaprizov Killing the Blues

Kirill Kaprizov is one of the brightest young stars in the NHL, and he put on an absolute show in the Game 2 victory. Kaprizov recorded a hat trick in that win, including a pair of third period goals to put the game out of reach.

Minnesota is a team that wants to push the tempo on both sides of the ice, which has been evident so far in this series. The Wild scored nearly 3.8 goals per game during the regular season, but they also allowed over three goals per night.

Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury is going to be a big factor on the road on Friday night as he has plenty of postseason experience. Getting an early goal is another key for the Wild as they want to take the crowd out of it early on. 

St. Louis Must Get Stops

Ville Husso has taken over as the top goaltender for the St. Louis Blues, and he has been up and down so far in this series. Husso stopped 37 shots in the shutout win in Game 1, but struggled to contain the mighty Wild in the second game.

St. Louis also failed to generate much offense in the Game 2 loss, and the Blues need to lean on the power play. The Blues scored on the power play 27 percent of the time in the regular season, and that unit can be a weapon.

David Perron had a hat trick in the series opener, and he is just one of the many weapons for this team. Vladimir Tarasenko and Jordan Kyrou both scored on Wednesday night, and this offense can be tough to stop at times. 

Wild Win in St. Louis

This series was supposed to be highly competitive, but that just hasn’t been the case in the first two games. Each team has been able to pick up a win, but both of the games were over early in the first period.

Minnesota scored six goals in the Game 2 win, and that offense will come into this game with a ton of momentum. St. Louis doesn’t have the talent to keep up on that end of the ice, and look for this game to be played at a slower pace. 

This will be the most competitive game of the series, but it will be the offense of the Wild that dictates the outcome. Bet the Minnesota Wild moneyline as they head into St. Louis and upset the Blues to take a 2-1 series lead on Friday night. 

Prop Pick

Minnesota (+175) OVER 3.5 Goals

Minnesota is averaging 3.7 goals per game on offense, which ranks No. 5 in the league, while generating 32.5 shots per game, which ranks No. 11. Scores have gone OVER in seven of the Wild’s last 10 games versus Western Conference opponents.

With Dunkel predicting a Minnesota victory by the score of 5-4, take the Wild (+175) to finish OVER their Vegas team total of 3.5 goals against St. Louis.

Vladimir Tarasenko (-160) OVER 0.5 Points

Tarasenko had 82 points in 75 games during the regular season, which ranked No. 1 on the Blues. The veteran right winger had 44 points (19 goals, 25 assists) in 37 games at home and 3 points (2 goals, 1 assist) in 3 games versus Minnesota.

With Dunkel predicting the final score going OVER the Vegas total, take Tarasenko (-160) to finish OVER 0.5 points against the Wild.