The St. Louis Blues have looked unstoppable over the last two weeks, and not even heading out on the road has been enough to stop them. St. Louis is on a dominant six-game winning streak that includes two huge wins over the Los Angeles Kings and Chicago Blackhawks to go along with a road win over the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday. The Blues are right in the mix for the top seed in the Western Conference and may be the best squad in the entire NHL at the moment.

The Calgary Flames have only two wins since mid-December and are 14 points out from the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. The Flames will start a two-game homestand on Thursday night. However, the trouble is that they will face the St. Louis Blues and Pittsburgh Penguins. Let’s take a closer look at the Blues and Flames matchup with predictions and analysis.

Blues at Flames Betting Story Lines

St. Louis is on a dominant six-game winning streak that includes a shutout and three blowout victories. The team outscored its opponents 27-12 over that span and has actually won eight of its last nine matchups. St. Louis has been an excellent hockey team all season, so the recent surge is not surprising. The squad ranks in the Top 10 in just about every category, which includes being second in goals per game with 3.6, third in goals allowed with 2.3 and third in power-play percentage.

The Blues have made bettors $1,133 on the puckline and are 9-3 as a +150 to +200 puckline underdog. The squad is being led by the 38 points of Alexander Steen and the fantastic goaltending of Brian Elliott, who has allowed only five goals during his last four games. St. Louis will play one more road game after Thursday’s matchup against the Flames and then will head home for a three-game homestand.
 
Calgary recently ended a four-game skid with an impressive victory over the Colorado Avalanche on Monday then followed up that performance with a disappointing loss to the Phoenix Coyotes. The Flames lost by six goals during their last outing and were never competitive in the matchup that got out of hand after the first period.

Calgary will play seven of its next 11 games of the month at home, but unfortunately many of those matchups will be against the top teams in the Western Conference. The Flames are currently ranked 28th in goals scored at 2.3, 28th in goals allowed with 3.1 and 27th in power-play percentage.

Blues at Flames NHL Betting Odds and Key Trends

St. Louis opened as a -178 moneyline favorite over the +162 underdog Flames at BetOnline. The total was set at 5.5 goals, with the “under” being favored at -116.  St. Louis is 5-0 against Western Conference teams over its last five matchups and 4-1 during its last five road games. The team is also 5-1 when scoring five goals or more in the previous game, but the most impressive stat is simply that the team has won six games in a row—three of which on the road.

Calgary is 5-2 over its last seven games after allowing five goals or more but is only 8-20 over its last 28 matchups against the Western Conference. The team is 0-4 during its last four home games and 1-8 during its last nine Thursday games. Head-to-head, the home team is 4-0 during the last four meetings, while the Blues are only 2-5 in the last seven matchups in Calgary.

Free NHL Picks: Blues at Flames Predictions

St. Louis has been on a tear over the last couple of weeks and should be able to continue its winning streak against an inconsistent and overmatched Flames team. It might seem a little late to jump on a six-game winning streak, but the Blues lost to the Flames two weeks ago, and that disappointing performance is probably still fresh in the team’s memory. The price is reasonable, so the best bet for this matchup is to take the Blues on the moneyline as a road favorite.

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Read more articles by George Monroy