Vancouver Canucks vs St. Louis Blues Predictions, Game 1 Picks, Betting Tips 8/12/2020

Game: Vancouver Canucks vs St. Louis Blues

Date: Wednesday, August 12, 2020

Location: Rogers Place in Edmonton, AB

TV: NBCSN

Odds/Point Spread: Canucks (+130) Blues (-154)

Total/Over-Under: 5.5

Rogers Place is the venue where Jordan Binnington and the St. Louis Blues will take on the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday in Game 1 of their series. The moneyline on this contest has the Canucks priced at +130 and the Blues are at -154. The total has been set at 5.5. The Canucks are covering 49.2% of the time, having gone 32-33 SU. The Blues are covering 58.0% of the time, going 40-29 straight up.

The Vancouver Canucks step onto the ice holding a record of 36 wins and 27 losses, which is good for 4th in the Pacific Division. So far this year, they have scored a total of 224 goals which is 3rd in the Western Conference and 10th in the NHL. Their goal differential is +10, which is good for 13th in the NHL. The Canucks currently have a total of 78 points, which is 20th in the NHL and 9th in the Western Conference. With reference to shots at the opposing goalie, they currently have a total of 2,153 which is 10th in the conference and 22nd in the NHL. As a group, Vancouver has earned a total of 1,292 hits which means they are averaging 18.7 per contest. They currently have a total of 915 blocks for this season. The man protecting the goal for Vancouver is Jacob Markstrom from Gavle, Sweden. He is 30 years old and has played 2,552 mins minding the goal for the campaign. Markstrom is conceding an average of 2.75 GAA which has him sitting 14th among Western Conference goaltenders and 29th in the NHL among goalies. For the season, he's allowed 117 goals. He holds a save percentage of .918 which has him sitting 10th among Western Conference goaltenders.

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The Canucks were on the winning side of the scoreboard with a 5 - 4 win over the Wild in their previous game. The Canucks had a good offensive outing in this win. In the game, they finished 5 of the 31 shots they attempted. They also had 4 power play chances and netted 1 goal out of those opportunities. Vancouver had a total of 15 penalty minutes for this game. The Corsi for the Canucks sat at 55 and the Corsi against was 40 meaning they had a Corsi percentage of 57.9%. Their Fenwick sat at 36 and the Fenwick against was 32, giving them a rate of 52.9%. They took 25 face-off wins at even strength and lost 23 of the face-offs. Their offensive zone starts came in at 48.9% and they had a PDO at even strength of 103.5 for this matchup. In discussing stats from the opponent, the Minnesota Wild tallied a total of 29 shots. They finished with a total of 13 penalty minutes and they earned a total of 5 power play opportunities.

The Blues will be the team on the other side of the ice and for the season they sit with 42 victories and 19 losses. In terms of goal differential, they rank 2nd in the Western Conference and 5th in the league with +33. They have compiled a total of 223 goals for this year which puts them at 4th in the West. St. Louis has a save percentage as a team of .910 which currently has them ranked 10th in the league, which means scoring chances could present themselves. They have a shooting percentage of 10.2% putting them at 5th in the conference. In goal for St. Louis is Jordan Binnington who is having an ok year by giving up 2.56 goals against average and that has him ranked 6th among West goaltenders and 15th in the NHL among goaltenders. In the 2,948 minutes he has been on the ice this year, he has allowed 126 goals. His save percentage is .912, which has him ranking 18th among West goaltenders and 32nd in the NHL among goaltenders.

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The Blues faced the Stars in an outing where the Blues ended up losing by a score of 2 - 1 their last time out. For this game, St. Louis had a 28.7% Corsi rating. They earned that percentage by having a Corsi of 27 while they allowed a Corsi of 67. Their Fenwick rate came in at 30.4% with a Fenwick of 21 and the Stars having earned a 48 Fenwick. This Corsi percentage speaks to the kind of game that St. Louis had and we'd say it was a below average outing in all. Their PDO was 103.4 and they'll go home having earned an oZS percentage of 58.1%. The Blues scored 1 goal out of the 22 shots on goal they pursued. They had 5 power play attempts in this one but weren't able to score a goal. In discussing their opponent, the Stars had 6 power play chances but weren't able to put the puck in the net. St. Louis conceded 38 shots on goal and the Stars ended up with 10 penalty mins.

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

Guy's Pick: Take St. Louis (-154)

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