Golden Knights vs Blues

Jack Eichel’s sustained success against St. Louis, coupled with Vegas’ overall profile, keeps me on the Golden Knights moneyline at -155 even with their current three-game losing streak and 1-6 skid, especially since the Blues are also stumbling with back-to-back losses after being outscored 10-3 and now sit 15-18-8 at the 41-game mark. With the current ESPN rosters showing Vegas still deeper down the middle (Eichel, Tomas Hertl, Brett Howden) than a Blues group leaning heavily on Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou, the Knights’ edge in five-on-five metrics — 3.11 goals per game and top-six shot volume versus St. Louis’ league-worst 2.46 goals per game and bottom-tier shot generation — should matter over 60 minutes despite Vegas’ recent wobble. Injuries trim both benches, but the Golden Knights’ absences (William Karlsson and Shea Theodore on the shelf, Eichel recently ill and day-to-day, Adin Hill still not fully right) are countered by the Blues losing key depth forwards Nathan Walker, Jimmy Snuggerud and Pius Suter, plus additional knocks to their bottom six, which further strains a roster already allowing roughly 3.4 goals against per night. Vegas has handled this matchup recently — including a 4-1 win in November and a 2-0-1 season series last year where Mark Stone, Hertl and Pavel Dorofeyev repeatedly punished St. Louis — and the Knights’ strong 9-4-5 road record stacks up favorably against the Blues’ 8-9-5 mark at Enterprise Center, an important tiebreaker with Western Conference playoff positioning tightening near midseason. Given an implied win probability around 60% at this price and only modest but real value over most projection models, I grade Knights -155 as a B+ play: solid, not elite, but preferable to backing a low-scoring Blues side that needs three-plus goals to be dangerous and rarely gets them. Odds and availability are subject to change. This bet was made at 02/01/2026 09:23.

Jack Eichel and the Knights’ offense facing an overstretched Blues back end nudges me to the Over 5.5 at -125, even though both teams are currently riding losing streaks that might suggest tightening up defensively at first glance. Recent form says otherwise: Vegas has bled chances during this 1-6 stretch, getting lit up 5-2 by Minnesota and 6-5 by Colorado and then conceding four more to Nashville, while St. Louis has just been hammered 6-1 by the Avalanche and 4-2 by Buffalo, results that highlight systemic issues in their own zone rather than just goaltending blips. The underlying numbers back a higher-scoring script — the Knights average 3.11 goals per game with a top-five power play that generates around 0.8 power-play goals per night, and they allow about 3.0 goals against, while the Blues score 2.46 and give up roughly 3.4, putting the “expected” total comfortably above this 5.5 line. Injuries matter on the defensive side: Vegas is still without puck-mover Shea Theodore and has an uncertain blue line after Brayden McNabb’s recent knock, while St. Louis is missing defensive forward Suter plus Walker and Snuggerud, reducing their ability to kill plays early and support goalies Jordan Binnington and Joel Hofer, who both sit in the mid-3s in GAA. Historically this matchup has tilted toward multi-goal nights when Vegas’ top talent is rolling — Eichel has piled up double-digit goals and nearly a point per game in his career against the Blues, and recent meetings have featured four-plus goals from Vegas alone — while market data shows the Golden Knights have gone over 5.5 in the majority of their games (22 of 38) and the Blues in roughly half of theirs. At -125 the price bakes in much of that, so I rate Over 5.5 as a B: the projection edge is real but not massive, and I’d keep stake sizing moderate in a daytime spot where special-teams variance could be high. Odds and availability are subject to change. This bet was made at 02/01/2026 09:23.

Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou give the Blues just enough high-end playmaking to make St. Louis +1.5 (-205) the puckline lean, banking on this staying within a goal more often than the long and injury-hit Golden Knights roster can run away with it. Vegas arrives on a three-game slide and has an NHL-high pile of overtime and shootout losses, a clear sign that many of their contests are being decided by a single goal, while St. Louis, despite a 15-18-8 record and two-game skid, has managed to drag better teams into coin-flip territory at home when Thomas, Kyrou and Pavel Buchnevich can drive the top six. From a matchup perspective, the Knights’ statistical advantages in shots, special teams and overall goal differential are already reflected in the heavy moneyline and a juicy -1.5 price on their side of the puckline, but their current defensive and goaltending volatility — with Adin Hill still not fully healthy, Carter Hart struggling in recent starts and Theodore sidelined — makes it risky to lay goals on the road. On the Blues’ side, injuries to depth forwards like Walker, Snuggerud and Suter do hurt their bottom six and penalty kill, yet they also concentrate minutes on the healthier top players, and Binnington’s .869 save percentage and 3.56 GAA profile more like a goalie who gives up three than five on an average night, which is often enough to keep the game within one regardless of whether St. Louis ultimately wins. With the Blues already at the 41-game mark and scrapping just below the Western Conference wild-card pace, the situational motivation to grind out at least a narrow result at home is strong, but the steep -205 juice limits the monetary upside, so I grade Blues +1.5 as a B- play: more about risk management than chasing a big payout, and best used as a parlay stabilizer rather than a standalone hammer. Odds and availability are subject to change. This bet was made at 02/01/2026 09:23.