The Vancouver Canucks and St. Louis Blues will play a critical matchup when they face off Thursday evening at the Enterprise Center. They currently sit for the final Wildcard spot with 75 points, with the Canucks holding one game in hand.
With a record of 7-2-1 over their last 10 games, the Blues have closed plenty of ground on the Canucks, but the Canucks can keep control of their destiny with a win in this matchup, which offers a critical four-point swing.
I’ll detail the relevant game notes, as well as outline my favourite betting angle below.

Canucks vs. Blues odds

Canucks Moneyline
+133
Blues Moneyline
-143
Puck Line
Canucks +1.5 (-201), Blues -1.5 (+175)
Total
Over 5.5 (+109), Under 5.5 (-123)
Odds courtesy of Pinnacle and are subject to change. Use promo code: Puck @ sign-up.

Vancouver Canucks

The Canucks enter off of arguably their best offensive performance of the season, as they tallied six goals versus Connor Hellebuyck and the Jets to earn a surprising victory on Tuesday. It was just the third time this season the Canucks have hit the six-goal mark, and the other two came against the Chicago Blackhawks.
With two goals in Tuesday’s matchup, Brock Boeser hit the 20-goal plateau for the sixth time in his career and quieted his critics for at least one evening. Boeser skated with Elias Pettersson and Nils Höglander at even strength, and the trio looked consistently threatening while combining for six points.
We’ve talked a lot about the Canucks’ desperate need for more production from Boeser and Pettersson, and they will need to lead the way tonight versus one of the NHL’s hottest teams. They will be getting some reinforcements back, as Conor Garland is slated to return. However, Filip Chytil remains sidelined due to a head injury. He is listed as day-to-day.
The Canucks are just 6-7-0 since the 4 Nations Face-Off and have scored just 2.69 goals for per game while allowing 3.00 goals against per game. They hold an expected goal share of 48.52% in that span, but that mark has improved to 50.28% in the four games since Quinn Hughes has returned to the lineup.
Head coach Rick Tocchet opted to shake up his defensive pairings ahead of his team’s matchup versus the Jets, elevating Tyler Myers onto the top pairing alongside Hughes and pairing Filip Hronek with Marcus Pettersson. The current combination does seem like the right way to configure the top-two pairings, as Hughes holds highly comparable results with Myers compared to Hronek, but Hronek’s strengths could work more effectively with Pettersson.
Kevin Lankinen is expected to get the start in this critical matchup. He holds a .904 save percentage and 2.53 GAA in 44 appearances this season.

St. Louis Blues

The Canucks will have their hands full in this critical matchup, as the St. Louis Blues have been one of the NHL’s most dominant teams recently. Since February 1st, the Blues hold a record 11-3-3 and hold the league’s fifth-best expected goal share of 54.42%.
The Blues have scored 3.65 goals per game in 17 matchups since February 1st and feature two lines currently producing at an elite rate.
Over the last three seasons, the Blues most consistently stacked their three most talented forwards: Jordan Kyrou, Robert Thomas and Pavel Buchnevich onto one unit. Thanks to the emergence of Jake Neighbours and Dylan Holloway, head coach Jim Montgomery has been able to separate the three and offer a more balanced look.
The Blues’ top line of Thomas, Buchnevich and Neighbours has been one of the best lines in the league recently, and they continue to show excellent chemistry together in the offensive zone. The three seem to have a great understanding of offensive zone spacing, and Buchnevich and Neighbours do a good job of helping the team’s most talented playmaker, Thomas, get plenty of touches.
Holloway actually leads the team with 28 points in 30 games since January 1st, while Thomas and Buchnevich are not far behind with 27 and 23 points, respectively.
The Blues are suffering through one noteworthy loss on the blue line, as Colton Parayko remains sidelined due to a knee injury. He will have a chance to return for the final stretch of the regular season based on his expected timeline. Nick Leddy has elevated his game since the injury to help cover the loss, while Philip Broberg continues to emerge as a high-quality top-four defender while averaging over 2o minutes per game this season.
Jordan Binnington has been confirmed as the starting goaltender in this matchup. He holds a .897 save percentage and 2.81 GAA in 47 appearances this season.

Best bets for Canucks vs. Blues

Depending on your perspective, it may look somewhat surprising that the Blues are now fairly heavy favourites at -141. As outlined, though, they have been one of the NHL’s hottest teams recently and do feature a strong underlying profile.
From an offensive perspective, the Blues have clearly been a vastly superior side, but the Canucks do enter off of arguably their very best offensive showing of the entire season. There does not look to be much value in backing either side, as the Blues strong play seems to be getting enough respect, and the Canucks should be at their best in this matchup.
There does look to be value backing Buchnevich to record a point at -114, a play which has hit in 12 of the last 18 matchups. He’s a key part of one of the hottest lines in the NHL and has recently been elevated back onto the Blues’ top power play unit. Buchnevich has the offensive skillset to continue producing at similar rates in his current roles, and at -114, I believe we are getting a good price to back him finding the scoresheet.
Best bet: Pavel Buchnevich Point -114 (Pinnacle, Play to -119)