Blues vs Kings Picks and Predictions: Making Music On The West Coast

The St. Louis Blues, the Western Conference’s top team at 6-1 SU, travel to Los Angeles to take on the Kings Wednesday night. The Kings are riding a two-game winning streak and will be playing their fourth game of a five-game homestand.  

The two clubs have seen each other twice already this year with the Blues taking both games at home by a combined score of 10-3 including a 3-0 shutout. St. Louis opened as -130 favorites on the moneyline with a total of 5.5.

Here are our free NHL betting picks and predictions for Blues vs. Kings for Wednesday, November 3.

Blues vs Kings odds

Odds via the Covers Line, an average comprised of odds from multiple sportsbooks.

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Blues vs Kings picks

• Blues ML (-130)
• Under 5.5 (-110)

Picks made on 11/03/2021 at 9:20 a.m. ET.
Click on each pick to jump to the full analysis.

Blues vs Kings game info

• Location: Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA
• Date: Wednesday, November 3, 2021
• Puck drop: 10:00 p.m. ET
• TV: TNT

Blues vs Kings betting preview

Injuries

Blues: Ryan O’Reilly F (Out), Oskar Sundqvist F (Out), Ville Husso G (Questionable), Kyle Clifford F (Out).

Kings: Drew Doughty D (Out), Viktor Arvidsson F (Out), Gabriel Valardi F (Out).

Find our latest NHL injury reports.

Blues vs Kings head-to-head record (since 2021)

Blues: 5-5 SU, 27 goals for.
Kings: 5-5 SU, 31 goals for.

Betting trend to know

The Blues are 6-0 SU in their last six games as a favorite. Find more NHL betting trends for Blues vs. Kings.

Blues vs Kings picks and predictions

Blues ML (-130)

The St. Louis Blues will take their 6-1 SU Western Conference-leading record to the West Coast as they begin the three-game California road trip that begins in Los Angeles tonight, will go to San Jose tomorrow, and finish in Anaheim on Sunday. 

The Blues have already seen — and beaten — the Kings twice this year and come in as -130 on the ML Wednesday night. They closed at -180 in those two home games. The Blues last played on Saturday and have had plenty of time to adjust to the time changes and other intricacies that come with a cross-country road trip.

Special teams have been the Blues’ forte to start the season. They own the league’s second-best power play that is 7 for 20 through seven games and have the No. 2 penalty kill that has successfully killed 21 of 23 penalties. The St. Louis power play success could prove a big role as the Kings are one of the league’s worst teams at killing penalties with a 69 percent success rate that puts them in the bottom five.

The Blues have had some solid goaltending to open the campaign as both Jordan Binnington and Ville Husso have been great. Binnington has seen the bulk of the load and has allowed just 15 goals in six games. If Husso does get the nod with St. Louis having to play tomorrow, Blues backers are in good hands as the back-up goalie blanked the Kings, 3-0, on October 25th. Husso is currently in COVID protocol so his availability is still questionable. There shouldn’t be any surprises in net Wednesday night, though.

The Kings are riding a season-high two-game winning streak but it was their play before that which is a little concerning. Los Angeles lost six straight games and picked up just one of a possible 12 points in that stretch. Goalie Cal Petersen is rocking a 3.28 GAA over four games while veteran Jonathan Quick is 1-4 SU to start the year. Both goalies boast negative goals saved above expected/60.

Much like other bottom-feeding teams, the Kings are struggling to score on their quality chances at even strength as their -4.09 goals for above expected indicates. St. Louis, on the other hand, is one of the highest-scoring teams at 5-on-5 this year averaging 3.23 per match. The Kings will also be without defenseman Drew Doughty and forward Viktor Arvidsson which are big pieces to the team overall.

St. Louis has the advantage in net, is playing better even-strength hockey and has the edge in special teams. The Blues are 3-0 SU on the road this year with wins against the Coyotes, Avalanche and Golden Knights — all by two or more goals. We’re backing the visitors on Wednesday at a great price of -130. Away favorites are hitting at 57 percent on the season.

Under 5.5 (-110) 

Combined, both clubs have started the year 7-9 O/U. The total was split in the two meetings this year but we’re expecting a game closer to the 3-0 finish as opposed to the Blues’ 7-3 win.

The Kings will likely start Quick in net Wednesday night. He was more than solid in the meeting last week where he stopped 32 of 34 in a 3-0 loss. He owns a 2.60 GAA and has yet to allow more than three goals in any start. The Blues’ offense is coming off a tightly-fought 1-0 win versus the Blackhawks who are one of the league’s most generous teams. 

The Blues may be the highest-scoring team in the league at 4.14 goals per game, but at 2.71 expected goals/60, there could be some regression coming for the Blues’ offense. They have the league’s second-highest shooting percentage which is about 2-3 points above average.

St. Louis is also one of the stingiest teams in the league at 2.14 goals against while both squads sit in the top-10 in expected goals against. 

Injuries also play a factor in our total play. The Blues are without Ryan O’Reilly, Oskar Sundqvist and Kyle Clifford. The loss to O’Reilly is the biggest as he was the team’s top centerman and is a point-per-game guy. The Kings will be missing power play quarterback Drew Doughty and top-six forward Viktor Arvidsson. Combined, those two have totaled 12 points this season.

The Blues’ power play has been exceptional to start the year but St. Louis draws very few penalties and gets less than three PP opportunities per match which is a bottom-10 mark in the league.

Both meetings this year closed at 5.5 so there are no discrepancies in this total. We’re leaning to the Under, however, as injuries, goaltending and St. Louis’ overrated offense are our major points of interest.  

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