Five of six NHL games scheduled for Monday, December 5, are inter-conference clashes, including this one in the Big Apple, so feel free to read the best Blues vs. Rangers betting pick and odds.
Both St. Louis and New York are desperate to avoid the sixth defeat in seven games when they meet at Madison Square Garden in NYC. The Rangers are -164 moneyline favorites on BetRivers NY Sportsbook, while the total is set at 6 goals. These inter-conference rivals have met twice last year, and each time the home team got a win.
Blues are in trouble
The St. Louis Blues (11-13-0-0, 9-15 ATS) are playing in a hot and cold form this season. After they responded to an eight-game losing skid with seven consecutive victories, the Blues now lost five of the previous six games. St. Louis is on a three-game losing streak; following defeats to Dallas and Carolina, the Blues opened their three-game road trip with a 6-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
St. Louis was powerless in Pittsburgh as the visitors were 5-2 down after the first two periods, and the Penguins didn’t allow them to return in this one by scoring another goal to secure a comfortable W.
Pavel Buchnevich and Vladimir Tarasenko scored for the Blues, while Colton Parayko chipped in a pair of assists. This season, the Blues have even ten players with double digits in points, but only one with 20+. Robert Thomas leads the bunch with 21 points (G 4, A 17), while Jordan Kyrou (G 9, A 10) and Buchnevich (G 8, A 11) are following him with 19 apiece.
Jordan Binnington (9-10-0) will take his place at the goal for St. Louis against the Rangers on Monday, while Thomas Greiss should start against the Islanders on Tuesday. The 29-year-old allows 3.27 goals per game this season with a .895 SV% and one shutout.
C Jordan Kyrou missed the last game with an illness, and it is unknown if he will play Monday against the Rangers.
Rangers are struggling right now
The New York Rangers (11-10-4-1, 8-18 ATS) are not playing well at the moment. They lost five of the last six, four of which came at MSG, and the Rangers even lost to the struggling Chicago Blackhawks, who were on an eight-game losing run before that 5-2 win in New York. After this betting match up against St. Louis, the Rangers will spend the next two games on the road against Vegas and Colorado.
New York trailed 3-0 to Chicago midway through the second period and the hosts couldn’t recover from that. Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider scored for the Rangers, but that wasn’t enough as the Rangers had 28 opposite St. Louis’ 21 shots and still lost by three goals.
Veteran goalie Jaroslav Halak registered just 16 saves, which is a season-low for him. The Rangers have four skaters with 20+ points this season. Zibanejad and Artemi Panarin each have 28; Adam Fox is right behind with 27, while Kreider has 22.
Igor Shesterkin (10-4-4) will be at the goal on Monday against St. Louis. The 26-year-old is surrendering 2.59 goals per contest this year along with a .913 SV% and one shutout.
Trends:
St. Louis:
1-5 in the last six overall
2-8 in the last ten vs. Eastern Conference rivals
2-7 in the last nine games following a loss of three or more goals
New York:
16-7 in the last 23 in the third game of a 3-in-4 situation
St. Louis Blues vs. New York Rangers Pick
Both teams are struggling offensively this season. St. Louis is scoring 2.83 goals per game, while New York averages 2.92 gpg. With these ineffective offenses, I am going with a stronger defense to win this encounter.
At the moment, the Rangers have a better defense that is allowing 2.89 goals per contest and are just outside the top 10 in that regard. The Blues have the fourth-worst defense in the NHL that is surrendering 3.75 goals per game. Jordan Binnington is experiencing the worst season of his career, which is the biggest reason for such a weak D.
Pick: Take the Rangers at -1.5 Puck Line (+152) at BetRivers NY
The Total
I don’t like to bet on Over when two offenses are not playing well, but I have to take St. Louis’s recent defensive woes into consideration. The Blues conceded at least four goals in each of their last six games, and although the Rangers are not impressing on offense lately, they do have some fantastic forwards that can trouble Binnington, who allowed 21 goals in his previous five starts.
That’s why I am backing the hosts to score 4+ in this one. Over is 4-1 in the last five H2H meetings; Over is 5-1 in the Blues’ previous six overall, while Over is 10-3 in the Rangers’ previous 13 following a loss of three or more goals.
Pick: Go Over 6 goals (-110)
