New York Rangers - St. Louis Blues predictions and free betting tips [10/03/2024]

The New York Rangers and the St. Louis Blues are slated for a regular NHL championship showdown.

New York Rangers

The New York Rangers hit a rough patch, dropping 3 out of their last 4 matches, following a dazzling run of 10 straight victories. These losses have complicated their bid for the Metropolitan Division title, especially after a 2:4 defeat against the Florida Panthers, who are leading the NHL championship race with 90 points, 6 points ahead of the Rangers. The acquisition of Wennberg from Seattle has sparked optimism among the team, particularly players like Mika Zibanejad, who highly rates him as a versatile forward capable of significantly contributing to the team's performance.

This season, Russian player Artemi Panarin leads the scoring charge with 85 points, including 35 goals and 50 assists, followed by Chris Kreider with 57 points. Vincent Trocheck and Mika Zibanejad have also made significant contributions with 59 and 54 points respectively. Goalies Igor Shesterkin and Jonathan Quick have been performing admirably, with save percentages of 91 and 91.6% respectively.

The Rangers face the challenge of bouncing back after recent setbacks, especially with games against direct competitors looming. Enhancing powerplay performance and bolstering defences are key aspects to the team's success in the remaining season.

St. Louis Blues

The St. Louis Blues are in a tense battle for playoff spots, trailing the Vegas Golden Knights by 6 points, and in competition with Calgary, Seattle, and Minnesota. The team's tumultuous period, showing a 6-8-1 record in their last 15 matches following a string of 5 victories from the end of January, shows a decrease in productivity. Their away form has shown them in somewhat of an unfavourable light, with a 1-6 record from the last 7 matches. Brandon Saad was the lone goal scorer in their match against the New Jersey Devils where the Blues lost 1:4, demonstrating issues in their shot creation, landing less than 30 shots on goal for the fourth game in a row.

Robert Thomas leads the team with 69 points, including 20 goals and 49 assists. Russian Pavel Buchnevich follows closely with 48 points, consisting of 24 goals and 24 assists. Stopping the shots for St. Louis are Jordan Binnington with a 22-17-3 record, averaging 2.84 goals against and save percentage of 91.2, and Joel Hofer with a 10-11 record, 2.88 goals against average and 91.1 save percentage.

The team is faced with serious challenges in defence, allowing 8 goals in their last two matches and are under pressure to improve their defensive play, especially after the 1:4 defeat to New Jersey Devils. Their average goals per game stands at 2.79, while conceiving an average of 3.08, which puts their offense at the 16th position and their defence at the 18th spot in the league.

Head to Head

In the last 5 encounters between the Blues and the Rangers, St. Louis has claimed three victories, including the last 2 in a row. The games ended as follows: St. Louis triumphed 5:2 on 12 January 2024, 3:2 in overtime on 7 April 2023, Rangers claimed a 6:4 victory on 6 December 2022, St. Louis defeated Rangers 6:2 on 11 March 2022, and the Rangers won 5:3 on 3 March 2022.

Prediction for the New York Rangers - St. Louis Blues match

The Rangers still have hopes to top the Eastern conference, trailing Florida by 6 points with 2 games at hand. St. Louis, 6 points shy of 8th-place Vegas, has been horrific on the road, losing 6 of their last 7 matches. I'm banking on Panarin's team.