St. Louis Blues will take on the Minnesota Wild in Game 4 of the NHL 2021-22 playoffs. The home side doesn’t want to repeat the latest performance, and they will search for improvement. The visitors managed to beat their rivals twice in a row, and they are now full of confidence.
St. Louis failed to capitalize on winning on the road in Game 1 since they lost the first match played on their ice. The hosts now need to go for a win to avoid falling into big trouble. On the other hand, Minnesota boosted its confidence with the latest victory. If the away side repeats the same outcome in Game 4, they will be just one win away from the conference semi-finals.
St. Louis Blues – Can they bounce back at home?
The Blues started this series very well by beating the Wild on the road in Game 1. However, they have lost the next two games and enter this one with a high dose of pressure. The hosts want to avoid the scenario of going back to Saint Paul being 3-1 down in this series. It was their fourth defeat in the last five matches, and St. Louis clearly needs to improve its performance. The Blues had three shots less than their rivals in Game 3 and also won one faceoff less. They were 2-0 down already after the first period and couldn’t do better to secure a positive result in the previous encounter.
David Perron tops St. Louis’s scoring charts with three goals while contributing to their offense with four points in total. Ryan O’Reilly has chipped in with three pts, as well as Torey Krug, who is the team’s best assistant in the post-season with three. Robert Thomas and Vladimir Tarasenko have produced two points each, while six other skaters managed to get into the offensive stats with one point each. On the goal, Ville Husso didn’t increase his numbers in the last two games, having a .906 save percentage and allowing 3.02 goals per game.
Expected Line-Up: Ville Husso, Torey Krug, Colton Parayko, Ivan Barbashev, Pavel Buchnevich, Jordan Kyrou
with best odds
Minnesota Wild – Will they book another away win?
The Wild showed a great response after losing in the first game of the series. After beating the Blues 6-2 in Game 2, they managed to celebrate again and win 5-1 on the road. Minnesota controlled the game from its very start, grabbing a 3-0 lead during the second period. They had 33 shots in that game, three more than their rivals, while they also won one faceoff more. Besides that, the Wild had only six penalty minutes in Game 3. Thanks to this performance, Minnesota got back the home-ice advantage and took a 2-1 lead in the series.
Kirill Kaprizov has contributed the most to Minnesota’s offense with four goals and one assist. Joel Eriksson Ek has also produced five points in total, while Ryan Hartman tops the assists charts with four. Mats Zuccarello and Jonas Brodin have chipped in with three pts each, while Marcus Foligno and Jordan Greenway have two points each. On the other hand, Marc-Andre Fleury made all three appearances between the pipes, allowing 2.34 goals per match and having a .926 save percentage.
Expected Line-Up: Marc-Andre Fleury, Jonas Brodin, Alex Goligoski, Kevin Fiala, Ryan Hartman, Kirill Kaprizov
Expert Pick #1 – Blues to win @-105
Although the momentum is not on their side, I believe the hosts are capable enough to level the score in this series. They were more successful in their recent head-to-head clashes, and I don’t think they will let Minnesota get away with a 3-1 advantage. Therefore, I’ll back the hosts as my first pick in this matchup.
Expert Pick #2 – Over 6.5 @-105
Minnesota has been hot in the offense in the last two matches, and I expect the response from the home side. Seven of their previous nine encounters went over a 6.5 margin, and it should be another efficient clash on Sunday afternoon. That’s why I’m taking the Over as my second bet.
Expert Pick #3 – Blues to win & Both to Score @+155
It’s a riskier pick than the first two, but I’ll take my chances. I see both teams finding the back of the net in this encounter, and combined with the Blues’ victory, we could get very attractive odds. I’ll go with this one as my third pick.
