Vancouver Canucks vs St. Louis Blues: Blues to win a high-scoring match

The last time Vancouver and St. Louis played each other was in the 2019/20 West quarterfinals, when the Canucks were stronger, 4-2. Can the Blues get revenge now? Our prediction: this time the Blues will win!

Vancouver is having a very mixed regular season. The start was really bad for the Canucks, as they suffered one failure after another, but then the club's management could not stand it and changed the head coach. As soon as Bruce Boudreau took the vacant bench, the results improved dramatically and they even managed to go on a winning streak that put them back in contention for the playoffs. In their last six matches, the British Columbia representatives slipped a bit, with four losses and two wins, but they are now 12th in the Western Conference standings, just a few points behind the top eight.

St. Louis was formed in the middle of the last century, but even then the Blues managed to secure the title of one of the most stable teams in the league. They almost always make it to the Cup battles, but only once have they won the Stanley Cup. In the current regular season, they are following their usual scenario, showing good results. So far, the Blues have not had a serious decline, while they have already had several winning streaks. The last six matches witnessed Craig Berube's players suffer only one defeat, and that in a fiery battle with Toronto, 5-6. Such a strong run allowed them to climb up to the second place in the Western Conference standings.

The teams have played 195 face-offs in the regular NHL championships. The Canucks had 77 wins, while the Blues were stronger in 100 games, and another 18 matches ended in a draw. The goal difference is also on the side of the guests, 635'549. The last time the rivals met was in the Western Conference quarterfinals in the 2019/20 season, when Vancouver players celebrated the victory in the series, 4-2.

Vancouver and St. Louis approach the encounter in good form. The Canucks have earned points for the last three matches, and the Blues won five of their six previous games. In this case, of course, the Blues look more successful and stable over the distance, and therefore are now in second place in the Western Conference standings, while the Canucks are only in 12th place. The visitors are simply stronger, so we are forced to bet on the victory of St. Louis with odds of about 2.00.

Ivan Barbashev is the most important player of St. Louis, who usually came out in the lower ranks of the Blues to confront the leaders of the opponents, so his personal statistics were very modest. During this regular season, the 26-year-old was promoted, which had an immediate effect on his stats: In 39 games, he has already scored 34 points (15 goals + 19 assists) which is his personal record. With that in mind, Ivan Barbashev's Total Over (0.5) at odds near 4.30 would seem to be a good bet.

St. Louis is one of the most productive teams in the NHL in terms of offensive accomplishments, while their defense still occasionally allows misfires. The statistics also show that the Canucks have scored 251 goals (6.28 average goals per game) in 40 games, which is a very respectable number. Vancouver's numbers are more modest, but the upcoming game will take place on their home ice, so they are not going to focus on defense. In this situation, it is worth looking at a bet on the Total Over (5.5) at odds of about 1.85.