NHL Betting Picks, Odds, And Preview: St. Louis Blues vs New Jersey Devils

The St. Louis Blues are defending Stanley Cup champions for a reason. As they gun for a season-best nine straight victories, the Blues will look to stamp their class anew and inch closer to the top of the league’s overall tally when they visit the New Jersey Devils on Friday. St. Louis is six points back of the No. 1 spot where the Boston Bruins reside while New Jersey remains at the bottom of the Metropolitan standings despite winning six of their last 10.

St. Louis Blues

The Blues became just the second team in NHL history to record a winning streak of at least seven games thrice after they overcame Dallas in a shootout on leap day, 4-3. They then tripped the New York Rangers on Tuesday to stretch their run and keep their rule over the Central Division, albeit the Colorado Avalanche are closely in pursuit, trailing them by just a deuce. Tasked to face a New Jersey squad which they have dominated over the past decade, the Blues know they could simply boss around and intimidate the Devils anew, but they are still wary of a potential upset. David Perron and Ryan O'Reilly will be ahead of the pack again to lead the Blues in keeping their searing charge alive.

New Jersey Devils

New Jersey was totally shut down in their last meeting against St. Louis on Feb. 18, 0-3, as the Devils suffered their 12th straight defeat next to the Blues, and the 15th in their last 16 meetings. The Devils would then respond with a sputtering six-game point-streak before being sent back crashing by Vegas on Tuesday with another scoreless finish, 3-2. Letting go of some of their prized defensemen along with some hapless injuries to key players surely did not help the cause of New Jersey. Kyle Palmieri, who leads the team in goals with 23, has been struggling to put points across the board as he was held scoreless in the last four games. The rest of the players in the active roster really have to step-up to avoid coming out empty-handed again against the Blues' firepower.

Odds and Trends

The insurmountable disparity on record is downright evident that the Blues are easily tagged by the sportsbooks as favorites at home offered at -175 in the money line market. The Devils, meanwhile, are set at +155 underdogs in the home ice.

The Blues are 8-0 in their last 8 overall and 4-0 in their last 4 vs. Eastern Conference.

The Devils are 4-0 in their last 4 home games and 4-1 in their last 5 after scoring 2 goals or less in their previous game.

Over is 5-2-1 in Blues last 8 games playing on 2 days rest and 4-1 in Devils last 5 games playing on 2 days rest.

Under is 4-1-1 in Blues last 6 games as a road favorite and 4-0 in Devils last 4 when their opponent allows 2 goals or less in their previous game.

Prediction

Blues win, 3-1