The St. Louis Blues (33-17-10) host the Arizona Coyotes (30-25-8) Thursday at Enterprise Center for an 8 p.m. ET puck drop, as they try to hold off the Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche for the top spot in the Central Division. The Stars beat the Coyotes 3-2 Wednesday. We analyze the Coyotes-Blues sports betting odds and lines, while providing NHL betting tips and picks around this matchup.
Coyotes at Blues: Projected starting goalies
Antti Raanta vs. Jordan Binnington
Raanta took the night off Wednesday but is expected to return to the net Thursday. He has won back-to-back games over the New York Islanders and Washington Capitals, while allowing just two goals on 66 shots. He has a .919 save percentage and 2.70 goals against average on the season.
Binnington stopped all 17 shots he faced Tuesday in a win over the New Jersey Devils at Enterprise Center. It snapped a 0-2-2 skid over his last four starts. He is 25-11-7 on the season with a .910 SV% and 2.66 GAA.
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Coyotes at Blues: Odds, picks and betting tips
Odds courtesy of BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports for a full list.
Odds last updated at 1:25 p.m. ET.
Prediction
Blues 4, Coyotes 2
Moneyline (ML)
The BLUES (-189) are getting better odds than they should while facing a Coyotes (+155) team on the second half of a back-to-back. St. Louis is 19-6-5 on home ice and Arizona is just 15-14-4 on the road.
Both teams have struggled of late, with the Blues owning a 3-5-2 record across their last 10 games and the Coyotes going 4-4-2 over the same span. Arizona leads the season series 2-0, but the two teams haven’t met since Dec. 31, and Blues backup Jake Allen was between the pipes.
New to sports betting? A $10 bet on the Blues to win in regulation, overtime or a shootout returns a profit of $5.30.
Puck Line/Against the Spread (ATS)
Increase your profit margin by backing the BLUES (-1.5, +145) to win by 2 or more goals. St. Louis is just 29-31 against the spread overall and 13-17 at home, while Arizona is 35-28 ATS overall and 20-13 on the road, but the second half of the back-to-back for the visitors turns this one dramatically in favor of the Blues. Look for the defending cup champions to pull back in front in the suddenly-crowded Central Division.
Over/Under (O/U)
Take the OVER 5.5 (+105) at plus-money as the play most conducive to our other two picks above. Both teams have favored the Under of late, but we’re backing the Blues to win by at least 2 goals, and a 4-2 victory will cash all three bets.
Esten’s NHL betting record: 242-231
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