March 30, 2022 at 7:05pm PST
Rogers Arena, Vancouver

Written by Mike Fink

The St. Louis Blues face the Vancouver Canucks for the second time in three days with both teams looking to improve in the playoff race in the Western Conference.

• The Blues have won 36 of their 65 games while the Canucks have won 32 of their 68 games but have only won three of their last 10 games.
• The Blues look to improve in the Central Division while the Canucks hope to make a late-season push for the playoffs in the Western Conference and the upcoming game should be a great one as a result.

Blues offense has been great this season

The Blues are having a great season with their offense stepping up and scoring 3.51 goals per game. David Perron and Vladimir Tarasenko have scored 46 goals and 56 assists combined while Jordan Kyrou and Pavel Buchnevich have added 43 goals and 70 assists to the top two lines but the rest of the offense has stepped up as well. Ivan Barbashev, Brandon Saad, and Brayden Schenn have combined for 56 goals and 69 assists while Ryan O’Reilly, Robert Thomas, and Nathan Walker have added 31 goals and 68 assists to the backend of the forward unit, making the Blues’ offense tough to stop.

The offense has been incredible but the defense has stepped up as well,allowing only 2.85 goals per game including one goal in their recent win over the Canucks. Justin Faulk and Colton Parayko have combined for 7.8 defensive point shares and 228 blocked shots while Marco Scandella and Niko Mikkola have combined for 3.9 defensive point shares and 133 blocked shots to give the Blues two strong defensive pairings. In addition, goaltender Ville Husso is having a great season in the net with a.924 save percentage and 2.38 goals-against average on 879 shots.

Canucks hope offense can step up

The Canucks are having a promising season but hope the offense can improve, scoring only 2.79 goals per game including only seven goals in the last three games. J.T. Miller, Bo Horvat, and Elias Pettersson have scored 74 goals and 97 assists combined while Brock Boeser, Conor Garland, and Tanner Pearson have added 46 goals and 60 assists to the top two lines but the rest of the offense has struggled. Only eight active skaters have scored eight goals or more and opposing defenses can easily limit the top-heavy offense as a result.

The offense has struggled the defense has stepped up,allowing only 2.82 goals per game. Quinn Hughes and Tyler Myers have combined for 8.6 defensive point shares and 178 blocked shots while Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Luke Schenn, and Brad Hunt have combined for 7.5 defensive point shares and 178 blocked shots to add depth to the unit. In addition, goaltender Thatcher Demko is having a great season in the net with a.917 save percentage and a 2.66 goals-against average on 1667 shots.

PREDICTION

The Blues won the recent meeting 4-1 and look to add on another win on the road. The problem is that the Canuck look to bounce back on their home ice and exploit mismatches throughout the game.

The Canucks should find the back of the net throughout the game with J.T. Miller, Bo Horvat, and the rest of the forward unit crashing the net on the odd-man rush and overwhelming the Blues defense with speed on the wing.

The Canucks should also limit the Blues’ offense with Quinn Hughes, Tyler Myers, and the rest of the defensive unit stepping up at the blue line and cutting off angles to the net on the rush while limiting shots on the net, allowing goaltender Thatcher Demko to make plenty of easy saves.

The Canucks should win the game to even up the score from the recent game with a strong performance on their home ice.

Source: winnersandwhinners.com