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The St. Louis Blues (2-2-1) and Ottawa Senators (4-1-0) will meet in the NHL tonight. Puck drop is set for 7:30 p.m. EDT at Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, ON. The game will broadcast live on ESPN+.
The Senators are favored at -113 on the moneyline, with the Blues -107 to pull off the upset. The over/under is set at 5.5 (-120o / +100u).
Let's get into our Blues vs. Senators predictionsand NHL picks .
Pick: Robert Thomas and Jimmy Snuggerud 1+ Point Each +155 (Bet365, Play to +145)
Our St. Louis vs. Ottawa best bet is on both Robert Thomas and Jimmy Snuggerud to each record a point, with the best odds currently available at bet365. For all of your NHL bets, be sure to find the best lines by using our live NHL odds page.
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Blues vs. Senators puck line:Senators -1.5 (+270), Blues +1.5 (-270)
Blues vs. Senators over/under:5.5 (-120o / +100u)
Blues vs. Senators moneyline:Blues -107, Senators -113
Blues vs. Senators best bet: Robert Thomas/Jimmy Snuggerud 1+ Point Each +155 (Bet365, Play to +145)
The Senators seemed to be widely undervalued by the mainstream media (and to a lesser extent, oddsmakers) entering the season, as the loss of former Captain Brady Tkachuk seemed to be being highly overvalued. It was Tim Stutzle and not Tkachuk who was, by far, their best forward last year, and the overall depth behind Stutzle still looks quite solid.
While I was high on the Sens' entering the year and their start has been impressive, backup goaltender Samuel Ersson's level of play could prove to be a huge concern, and Ersson is expected to get the start Tuesday in a back-to-back spot.
Over the previous two seasons, Ersson played to a -36.9 GSAx rating across 80 appearances with the Philadelphia Flyers, and he allowed four goals in his Senators debut versus Detroit on October 6th. Goaltending is tough to project, but the Blues should have a good chance of managing some offense Tuesday versus one of the league's best defensive sides due to Ersson getting the start.
Backing the Thomas/Snuggerud stack was my only losing pick from last Thursday's Daily Dangles guide , but they had their chances (both hit the post), and bounced back by combining for three points in Saturday's 5-3 win over the Blue Jackets.
The Blues' top line of Thomas, Snuggerud and Dylan Holloway was one of the better units in the NHL last season, as across 253.9 minutes of play, they generated 3.55 xGF/60 and scored 5.67 goals per 60 where it counts, which was the highest mark of any line to spend 200 minutes together.
Thomas is one of the better playmakers in the NHL and is a natural fit to play alongside Snuggerud, who has an excellent shot and is well adept at finding open pockets of space in the offensive zone. Snuggerud is a fairly likely candidate to take steps forward this season, and has gotten off to a solid start with four points in five games thus far.
Thomas and Snuggerud also play together on the Blues' top power-play unit, which makes this stack fully correlated, and +155 looks to be a good price to back the duo each recording a point.
Best Bet: Robert Thomas and Jimmy Snuggerud 1+ Point Each +155 (Bet365, Play to +145)
