St. Louis Blues at Pittsburgh Penguins NHL Picks & Predictions 10/4/2017

Wednesday, October 4, 2017

PPG Paints Arena

Get todays NHL hockey odds on this game.

The St. Louis Blues head to PPG Paints Arena to take on the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday, October 4, 2017. The opening line for this contest has the Blues at +265 and the Penguins at -112.

St. Louis had a record of 46-29-7 last year and away from home they had a record of 22-17-2. They were 3rd in the Central Division. They tallied 235 goals and surrendered 218 goals for a point differential of +17. For the year they had an ATS mark of 52-41-0 and an over/under record of 37-43-0. Pittsburgh finished with a record of 50-21-11 including 31-6-4 on home ice last year. They were 2nd in the Metropolitan Division. They scored 282 goals and gave up 234 for a goal differential of +48. Their record against the spread was 66-41-0 while their over/under mark was 58-42-0.

Valuable St. Louis Blues Betting Trends

The St. Louis Blues were 52-41-0 straight up last year

The St. Louis Blues were 37-43-0 against the over/under last season

Important Pittsburgh Penguins Betting Trends

The Pittsburgh Penguins were 66-41-0 straight up last year

The Pittsburgh Penguins were 58-42-0 against the over/under last season

Key St. Louis Blues Injuries

10/1/2017 Colin White D Finger
9/27/2017 Robby Fabbri C Knee
9/20/2017 Alexander Steen LW Hand
9/19/2017 Jay Bouwmeester D Ankle
9/19/2017 Zach Sanford LW Shoulder
8/19/2017 Luke Opilka G Hip
6/28/2017 Patrik Berglund C Shoulder

Key Pittsburgh Penguins Injuries

9/18/2017 Patric Hornqvist RW Hand

Player Spotlight

Brayden Schenn scored 54 total points last year for the Blues. He had 25 goals last season with 174 shots on net giving him a shooting percentage of 14%. He had a total of 29 assists on the year and averaged 17.9 minutes played per contest. Vladimir Tarasenko averaged 18.5 minutes of ice time per game last season. In that time he had a shooting percentage of 14% by tallying 38 goals on 275 attempts. He had 34 assists giving him a total of 72 points on the year. Jake Allen had 33 wins and 20 losses last season in goal for the Blues. He had 1,620 shots against him and he surrendered 138 goals. He made 1,482 stops for a save percentage of 92%.

Player Spotlight

Sidney Crosby had 88 total points last season for the Penguins. He had 43 goals last year with 253 shots on goal giving him a shooting percentage of 17%. He had a total of 45 assists on the year and averaged 19.9 minutes played per contest. Evgeni Malkin averaged 18.6 minutes of ice time per contest. In that time he had a shooting percentage of 17% by scoring 33 goals on 191 attempts. He had 39 assists giving him a total of 72 points on the year. Matthew Murray had 32 wins and 10 losses last season in net for the Penguins. He had 1,450 shots against him and he gave up 111 goals. He made 1,339 saves for a save percentage of 92%.

Useful Team Statistics

The Blues had 99 total points last year, which was 11th in the NHL. They scored 235 goals while giving up 218 scores, which had them ranked 12th and 19th respectively. They had 235 power play chances and scored 50 goals on those opportunities for a percentage of 21%. That was 8th in the league. The Blues gave up 263 power play opportunities and surrendered 40 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 85%, ranking them 3rd when short-handed. They averaged 28 shots per contest and as a team shot 10.09% for the year. They allowed 28 shot attempts to their opposition per game and had a team save percentage of 91%, which was 20th in the league.

Useful Team Statistics

The Penguins were 2nd in the league with a total of 111 points last season. They had 60 power play goals on 260 chances for a percentage of 23%. That was 3rd in the NHL. They gave up 257 power play opportunities and surrendered 52 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 80%, ranking 20th overall. As a team, the Penguins were 1st with a total of 282 goals scored while they gave up 234 goals last season, ranking 14th in goals against. They averaged 33 shots per game and had a team shooting percentage of 10.27%. As a unit they gave up 33 shots per contest and had a save percentage of 91%, putting them 10th overall in the NHL.

Advanced Statistics

The Blues started possessions in the offensive zone 48.8% of the time while their defensive zone percentage was at 51.2% for the year. That ranked them 27th and 10th respectively in the NHL. They had 2,438 face-off wins as opposed to 2,411 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage was 50.3%. That was 15th in the league. On defense St. Louis had 1,688 hits and they blocked 1,135 attempts from opposing offenses, ranking them 17th in blocked shots. St. Louis was ranked 19th in Corsi percentage with 49.5% as they tried 4,271 shots on goal while at full strength while they surrendered 4,364 shots on net when they had a full team on the ice. Their Fenwick percentage was 19th in the NHL at 49.8%, as they had 3,207 shots while they gave up 3,229 attempts on defense.

Advanced Statistics

Pittsburgh had a Corsi percentage of 49.8% as they tried 4,814 shots on goal while at full strength while they surrendered 4,855 shots on net when they had a full team on the ice. That ranked them 18th in Corsi percentage. They were 12th in the NHL in Fenwick percentage with 50.7% as they had 3,648 shots while they gave up 3,548 attempts on defense. The Penguins started possessions in the offensive zone 53.4% of the time while their defensive zone percentage was at 46.6% for the year. That put them 7th and 26th in the league in zone percentages respectively. They had 2,452 face-off wins as opposed to 2,702 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage was 47.6%. That was 27th overall in the NHL. On defense Pittsburgh had 2,060 hits and they blocked 1,307 attempts from opposing offenses, which was 6th in the league.

Who will win tonight's Blues/Penguins NHL game against the spread?

Guy's Pick: Take St. Louis +265

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