The St. Louis Blues travel to take on the Minnesota Wild tonight in Game 3 of their NHL Playoffs series in the opening round. The game is scheduled for a 7:00 p.m. start time and it will be televised nationally on CNBC. Currently the betting odds for the game have the Wild favored in this one on home ice.
This is another series that is tied 1-1 after the opening two games. The Blues got a big win in the second game of this series on Saturday, claiming a 4-1 victory to even the series. Minnesota stole the home ice advantage in this series with a win on Blues ice in the first game and they have to be pleased with a split to start the series.
St. Louis finished 27-12-2 in home games this season, finishing with the third-best record on their own ice in the Western Conference. But now they have to find a way to get a victory away from home to avoid losing the upper hand in this series. Minnesota was a middle of the road team on their own ice this year, finishing with a record of 23-13-5.
Minnesota did a great job on the penalty kill this season as well, ranking first in the league at 86.3 percent. The Blues own the fourth-best power play, so that will continue to be a battle of strengths for these teams moving forward. Through two games so far the Blues have just one power play goal in five attempts, but they have killed three of the five Wild power plays as well. The two goals they allowed both game in the opening game, which proved to be a big difference.
Tonight, the Wild will take advantage of playing in front of a hungry crowd at the Xcel Energy Center.
Free Pick: Minnesota
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