St. Louis Blues - Toronto Maple Leafs predictions and free betting tips [19/02/2024]

The St. Louis Blues are set to host the Toronto Maple Leafs in a regular NHL championship match.

St. Louis Blues

The St. Louis Blues have encountered a challenging period, having lost their home game against the Nashville Predators on Saturday with a score of 5:2. This defeat followed an impressive series of eight victories out of ten games, underlining the Blues' struggle for a spot in the Western Conference. Interim coach, Drew Bannister, noted that the team had created its own hurdles in this game, highlighting mistakes that led to missed goals.

The Blues' defence found itself under particular pressure, conceding five goals from The Predators; which impacted their average goals conceded per game statistics — 3.09, placing them 17th in the league for defence. Robert Thomas displayed excellent play, achieving 19 goals and 42 assists, becoming a key player in the team's attack.

The Blues strive to recover from their defeat, aiming for a victory in the upcoming match against the Toronto Maple Leafs, which would allow them to claim their second win in the last three games. Despite difficulties in defence, the team demonstrated scoring ability, especially in the recent game where Jordan Kyrou and Nathan Walker each scored a goal while Robert Thomas assisted. Russian player Nikita Alexandrov has 1 assist from 18 games this season; third highest scorer for the Blues, Pavel Buchnevich, has 42 points with 18 goals for 52 games; Alexei Toropchenko has scored 9 goals and made 4 assists for 54 games.

Goalkeeper Jordan Binnington, who reflected 28 out of 32 shots in the last game, continues to be a pillar for the team with a rate of 2.93 goals conceded and 90.8% of shots reflected in 39 games.

Toronto Maple Leafs

The Toronto Maple Leafs have shown impressive results, winning three consecutive games and reaching their peak in their last encounter with the Anaheim Ducks, where they achieved a confident victory with a score of 9:2. Under the guidance of coach Sheldon Keefe, the team displayed high-quality play, most notable in their ability to control the match throughout the second half and effectively utilise every opportunity for scoring goals.

Toronto's Centre Forward, Auston Matthews, continues to set records, accomplishing a hat-trick and enlarging his collection to six this season; the highest in the NHL since Mario Lemieux accomplished it in the 1995-96 season. Matthews expressed his pride at the chance to be mentioned alongside a hockey legend.

While the Maple Leafs claimed a 4:1 victory in their previous match against St. Louis Blues, they faced the absence of key players: Captain John Tavares and Forward Mitch Marner due to illness, and Defenceman Morgan Rielly due to suspension. Despite this, Bobby McMann contributed significantly by achieving his first career hat-trick, confirming the depth and power of Toronto's line-up.

Marner returned to the roster and demonstrated his leadership qualities, contributing five assists in the last two games. Marner's versatility, being capable of playing as a defenceman when necessary, as shown in the match against Anaheim, is particularly notable. An impressive comeback by goaltender Ilya Samsonov, who after a break due to poor performance, returned with serious-level indicators, helping Toronto to win.

Head to head

In their last meeting between Toronto and St. Louis on 14th February, Toronto claimed victory with a score of 4:1. Earlier, on 4th January 2023, the game ended in a shootout victory for St. Louis with a score of 6:5. On 28th December 2022, Toronto won in overtime with a score of 5:4. On 20th February 2022, St. Louis won with a score of 6:3, and on 16th January 2022, the game ended with a victory for Toronto with a score of 6:5.

Forecast for St. Louis Blues - Toronto Maple Leafs

Toronto is on a roll, especially Matthews, who might break all scoring records and not only aims for the Maurice Richard Trophy but also for 70 goals this season. In the face of an unstable St. Louis, I'm betting on a Toronto away win.