The St. Louis Blues typically fare well in the front end of back-to-back games, but will be short-staffed when they face the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday. The Blues are listed as the -130 betting favorite against the +100 Red Wings with a 5.5-goal total in their Wednesday matchup at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
St. Louis should be refreshed by a three-day break, but will be without top-line center Paul Stastny, whose responsibilities include taking many faceoffs in special teams situations. The Blues are 7-3 in their last 10 games that were the front end of back-to-back contests, according to the OddsShark.com NHL Database. They are also 7-2 in their last nine road games.
The Red Wings have sank to the bottom of the Eastern Conference with 22-24-10 record that includes being 2-5 since the all-star break, and an 1-4 mark in their last five outings on home ice at Joe Louis Arena. Their hopes of a 26th consecutive playoff appearance appear to be slim and none.
Forward Henrik Zetterberg has done everything he can to try to make a young team better. The Red Wings have maintained a reliable penalty kill and depending on which version of goalie Petr Mrazek they get, can surprise teams on a given night.
The Blues are 29-22-5 overall, including a 5-1 mark since Mike Yeo took over as head coach. The shake-up behind the bench began roughly around the same time that goaltender Jake Allen found his form. The Blues have won in four of Allen’s last five starts, during which the goaltender has a 1.40 goals-against average and .953 save percentage.
Stastny, who is on injured reserve, will be missed. He normally flanks RW Vladimir Tarasenko, who is St. Louis’ leader in goals and points. Jaden Schwartz will likely draw in as the Blues’ top center between Tarasenko and Alexander Steen.
Since January 2016, the Blues are 8-2 in road games against Atlantic Division teams.
The total has gone under six of the last seven times the Blues were playing on the road in the first of back-to-back games. The total has also gone under in seven of the Red Wings’ last nine regular-season home games against St. Louis, dating back to the 2011-12 season.
However, the total has gone over in five of St. Louis’ last six road games against the Atlantic Division.