Rickie Robbins
Minnesota Wild +125
This afternoon's match up in St. Paul's will truly feature a tale of two teams. Although both the St. Louis Blues and the Minnesota Wild have generally been known to be two of the better teams in the West this season, they have really found themselves rapidly drifting in opposite directions recently.
The Wild, who were at one point very hot and among the top of the standings, have now found themselves on the outside looking in on a playoff spot. They are currently riding a five game losing streak, and have lost 8 of their last 10 games. The team has also experienced significant injuries during the stretch. They have lost arguably their most dangerous scoring threat Zach Parise to a foot injury. However, more importantly, Minnesota really started to plummet when their goaltender Josh Harding had to take a week of absence to attend to his medical condition. He returned (after the team had lost four straight with stretches of horrific goaltending by Niklas Backstrom) in Sunday's 5-4 loss to the Islanders in what was arguably the worst loss of the season for the Wild. The good news is that Harding will be just fine. It was a team meltdown, and he should be in good form for this afternoon.
Head coach Mike Yeo appeared to have a very calm approach, both following practice yesterday, and in an interview today. The vibe suggested a refresh mode for the team. He also added that the loss to the Islanders was enough to force the team to look at the tape and address their holes.
Anyone who has followed the Minnesota Wild this season (or any of their past few seasons for that matter) knows that the team operates on a culture of strict defense. At home, they usually have a bit of momentum on their side from their crowd. If they get an early lead, it usually tightens up for the rest of the game. Knowing that they just blew a 3-0 lead to one of the worst teams in hockey (which should be the last straw at this point), they will be even more alert within the defensive system that they have seem to have mastered for the most part this season. They also know St. Louis is no slouch.
The truth is, although the Blues have been absolutely outstanding and impressive, they are coming off two hard fought character wins with their two most important forwards injured. This will be the third game in four nights for St. Louis, and with the amount of north-south end to end travel these past three days, fatigue should be kicking in at this point. Apart from the general drive to exceed as a top team in the standings of course, there is no known extra motivation for St. Louis to treat this like a do or die type of game, whereas there is every reason in the world for Minnesota to do so.
The bottom line is that the Wild will be more mentally consumed in the concept of doing everything right this game. They will really be looking to get their confidence back here. The only way they function successfully within the lines of their game style is if they play flawless defense backed by solid goaltending. At the end, their chip and chase approach should involve scoring just enough goals to win the game. Essentially, this should be a hard fought grind, similar to that of the Blackhawks and Kings game last night. Goals should come few and far between, with Minnesota having the motivational edge against a fatigue and somewhat satisfied St. Louis squad.
Nelly
Kings / Rockets Over
Houston was held to 86 points on Sunday in an ugly loss at Oklahoma City. The Rockets should be motivated to get back on track today and this is a team that has scored triple-digits in seven of the last 10 games. The Rockets are scoring 106 points per game on the season and they get to go up against one of the worst statistical defenses in the NBA, a Kings team allowing 104 points per game on over 47 percent shooting. On the road the Kings are surrendering nearly 49 percent shooting while allowing 107 points per game. Sacramento beat the Rockets two weeks ago at home 106-91 in what was a tough scheduling spot for Houston, coming off a big win in Oakland. Houston shot poorly in that game with 41 percent field goals, 26 percent 3-point shooting, and 58 percent shooting from the free throw line. Houston also had 17 turnovers in a game Jeremy Lin did not play in. Over the last six games the Kings have allowed over 112 points per game on average and the over is 13-7 in games for the Kings with a total above 200. The Kings have the fourth worst team in the NBA in terms of defensive efficiency and despite the strong record Houston is not much better. The Rockets are one of the most efficient offensive teams in the league, only trailing Miami and Portland and the Kings are actually an above average offensive team as well despite the consistent losing. This game has a high number but the three meetings last season all featured a total of 218 or higher.