ST. LOUIS BLUES VS DETROIT RED WINGS – 10/27/2019 FREE PICK & NHL BETTING PREDICTIONS

Oddsmakers have been a bit late releasing the line on the Blues @ Red Wings game on Sunday. St. Louis is in action on Saturday night in Boston and will be playing on leg two of a back-to-back.

Even going on 0 days rest, it’s hard to imagine that St. Louis isn’t a huge favorite here. The blues have surged to 3rd in the Central while Detroit is just a point better than Ottawa for worst team in the league.

St. Louis Blues

St. Louis is likely going ‘all in’ for their game against the Bruins Saturday night as Boston is a -170 home favorite. Do the Blues overlook Detroit on Sunday because of this or is it an easy win either way?

St. Louis has been playing good hockey lately. They’ve accumulated points in 7 of their last 9 games, going 5-2-2 over that span. That includes having won two in a row ahead of Saturday’s tilt with Boston.

The strength of St. Louis this season has been their defense, but after the back-to-back and with a probable 2nd string goaltender the offense will need to step up vs. Detroit. That shouldn’t be a problem against one of the league’s worst defenses.

It will be Jordan Binnington vs. Tuukka Rask on Saturday night so the Blues will probably turn to Jake Allen vs. Detroit.

Allen has made just two starts on the season, and none since last Saturday. He allowed 4 goals to both Ottawa and Montreal with neither team attempting more than 30 shots. Allen’s .849 save percentage is at the bottom of the league.

Detroit Red Wings

Can Detroit score the upset and cash out as a likely heavy underdog? One wouldn’t think so as Detroit hasn’t accumulated a point since October 10th.

The Red Wings come in on a 7 game losing streak and their offense has been historically bad over that span. Detroit has just 9 goals in those 7 games, never scoring more than 2 in a single outing.

One good thing is that the Red Wings are at home Sunday, even though they are just 1-4 at Little Caesar’s Arena this season. Detroit also had Saturday off giving them the fatigue advantage at least.

What’s so bad about Detroit having such a poor offense is that their defense is just as much a liability. During this 7-game losing streak, a whopping 5 opponents have had a 5 goal game. St. Louis is licking their chops at that.

It will be Jimmy Howard in net on Sunday but he’s dangerously close to losing his #1 status. Howard is just 1-5 on the season and has allowed 4+ goals in 3 of his last 4 starts.

NHL Betting Trends:

• Road team is 11-4 last 15 meetings
• Blues are 10-24 last 34 Sunday games
• Under is 9-4 last 13 H2H meetings
• Under is 5-2 last 7 meetings in Detroit
• Favorite is 4-1 last 5 H2H meetings

Free Detroit Red Wings vs. St. Louis Blues NHL Prediction:

No reason to back Detroit here (or anytime in the foreseeable future) even though St. Louis is in a back-to-back. The Blues need wins wherever they can get them to keep up with red hot Colorado and Nashville.

4* Free NHL Betting Pick: Blues PL -1.5

Allen should get right in net for St. Louis against an nonthreatening Detroit offense.