Visiting Note knifing through competition
Minnesota’s Devan Dubnyk is generally regarded as one of the NHL’s elite goalies. Yet his utter inability to upend Central Division rival St. Louis continues to prove troubling.
The Saskatchewan native gets another chance to exorcise such demons tonight, with a 6 p.m. ET puck drop at XCel Energy Center. Online sports book Bovada.lv gives the Wild odds of -125 to take care of business at home. Conversely, the Blues represent +105 underdogs.
At age 30, Dubnyk’s on the verge of putting together perhaps his finest statistical season. He leads the league in both GAA (1.66) and save percentage (.946). In 17 career starts vs. the Note, however, Dubnyk holds a 4-11-2 record with a 3.58 GAA and .883 save percentage.
Jake Allen has significantly less experience with Bruce Boudreau’s club. St. Louis’ No. 1 netminder will draw his fifth assignment in the Gopher State this evening. Over his past three road outings, Allen is 2-1 with a .932 save percentage.
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The Blues are 16-6-1 against Minnesota since the beginning of the 2011-12 campaign. Considering their dominance of New Jersey roughly 36 hours ago, too, there’s little reason to suspect a slip-up here. Translation: Dubnyk’s woes must persist.
SUNDAY NHL FREE PICK: BLUES +1.5