Minnesota Wild at St. Louis Blues Game 6 Betting Preview
In Game 6 of the Minnesota Wild and St. Louis Blues series where the Blues currently hold the lead 3-2. St. Louis won 5-2 in the last game in Minnesota, where Vladimir Tarasenko scored a hat-trick in the third period. The Blues have now won two straight games and look to finish off the series while the Wild hope to stay alive and force a Game 7.
Now back in St. Louis, the Blues hope to keep on scoring while Minnesota looks to mix things up with some line changes and possibly change in net, with Cam Talbot likely getting the start in Game 6 over Marc-Andre Fleury, who has struggled as of late.
St. Louis is listed as the moneyline favorite at -115 over Minnesota. The over/under is currently listed at 6.5.
Minnesota Wild look to force Game 7
Following two straight losses and now facing elimination, the Minnesota Wild hope they can turn things around and tie up the series. In the past two games, the Wild have allowed five goals in each game and have allowed 17 goals this series for a GAA of 4.25.
The Wild will likely shake things up and start Cam Talbot, who went 7-0-3 in his final ten regular-season starts. His last regulation loss goes all the way back to March 6th.
Goaltending hasn’t been the only problem for this team as they have scored only 15 goals this series, whereas leading scorer Kirill Kaprizov has scored seven goals himself.
The other 11 forwards have scored seven goals combined with Ryan Hartman and Kevin Fiala, both held without a goal who were second and third in scoring on the team during the regular season. If Minnesota wants to win, they will need these two guys to help Kaprizov on the scoring front.
In special teams, the Wild are ranked ninth on the power play amongst playoff teams with PP% of 21.1%. On the penalty kill, the Wild have struggled as they are ranked 13th with a PK% of 70.0%. With shifts in lines, the Wild have a chance at improving both of these in a do-or-die Game 6.
St. Louis Blues Hoping to Advance
The St. Louis Blues hold the series lead 3-2 following their 5-2 win on Tuesday night and now look to close out the series and move onto the 2nd round of the NHL Playoffs.
Back in St. Louis, the Blues look to stay hot on offense after scoring back-to-back five-goal games. In the series, the Blues are seventh in the league with 17 goals and average 4.25 per game.
On the defensive end, the Blues have allowed 15 goals, with Jordan Binnington likely getting his third straight start of the series, who has allowed just four goals in his previous two starts.
When they have the man advantage, the Blues are ranked fourth with a PP% of 30.0%. They have the fifth most power play opportunities with 20 power play chances.
On the penalty kill, the Blues ranked eighth with a PK% of 79.0%. The Blues have been shorthanded 19 times this series, where they rank seventh amongst the other 15 playoff teams.
Following his Game 5 hat-trick, Vladimir Tarasenko looks to keep scoring, who now is tied for second in team goals with four. David Perron and Ryan O’Reilly lead the team in points with seven total.
Perron also leads the Blues with five goals which include a hat-trick in Game 1. These three will be key players for the Blues as they look to advance to the second round.
Wild/Blues Betting Prediction
Facing elimination, the Minnesota Wild go into Game 6 against the St. Louis Blues, hoping to head back to Minnesota for Game 7. The Wild are in desperate times as they are going to shake things up in the lineup and in net with Cam Talbot potentially getting his first start of the series.
Talbot finished off the regular season on a high note with a 7-0-3 record, with his last regulation loss going back to March 6th.
Kirill Kaprizov will continue to be relied on as he has scored seven goals out of the team’s 15 total goals. He will look for teammates Kevin Fiala and Ryan Hartman for help as they both look to score their first goals of the series.
The Wild will need to shut down the St. Louis Blues’ big offensive three of Tarasenko, O’Reilly, and Perron in order to win this game.
The Wild were one of the best teams this season when playing from behind, and this game should be treated no differently as they are now down in the series. Look for them to pull through again and force a Game 7.
Take the Wild ML (-105).
