Game Information
St. Louis Blues (11-14-7, 29 points) vs Chicago Blackhawks (13-11-6, 32 points)
Time: 7pm CT Friday
How to watch: ESPN+, Hulu
DraftKings Odds
Moneyline: Blues -125, Blackhawks +105
Total: 5.5 (over -130, under +110)
Blues Return Home
The St. Louis Blues open up a four-game homestand tonight against the Chicago Blackhawks.
The Blackhawks ripped the Blues apart 8-3 in the previous meeting this season back on October 15th at Enterprise Center.
Blues Falling Into A Rut
After a terrible October and a better November, the Blues are unfortunately starting to revert back to their October form here in December. They have dropped four of six games this month, and they are leaking goals again with all four losses coming by 3+ goals.
Last night was another low point in a 7-2 loss at Nashville, which is the fourth time the Blues have lost by 5 goals this season. The good news is they have responded with a win their next time out in the three previous occasions.
Blackhawks Slumping As Well
The Blackhawks come to town losers of eight of their last eleven games after a strong start to the season. They may have righted the ship in their last game though, as they shut out the Rangers 3-0 after blowout losses in the previous two games by scores of 6-0 and 7-1.
The Hawks have the special teams edge in this one with their power play ranked 10th in the NHL (22.2%) and their penalty kill ranked 6th (83.8%).
My Lean
I find this game really tough to call. I like that the Blues have shown the ability to bounce back from blowout losses this season, so normally I’d want to be on them in this spot. But the injuries have mounted, and I’m finding it tough to back them as a favorite here.
My lean for this game would be the over. These teams tend to play wild games against each other, with an average of 8.0 goals scored in the last ten meetings with the over 5.5 going 8-2 in that stretch.
Lean: Over 5.5 at -130 on DraftKings
Eric Sontag hosts Domesticated Gamblers every Wednesday night on the STL Sports Central YouTube channel. Follow him on X @GamblingDads, and click here for his daily picks on all of our St. Louis area sports teams. Get Eric's picks for all sports by following him in the Action Network app with the username "esontag". Disclaimer