Blues/Canadiens:

The St. Louis Blues and Montreal Canadiens will square off at the Bell Centre tonight in what will be the only meeting in Montreal this season between these two teams. 

First off, let’s start with the obvious. In the minds of many, the Canadiens have been playing above their expectations, while the Blues have been playing well below theirs. 

For a team that was ranked as a basement dweller right off the start, Montreal has surprised the hockey world with a 3-1-1 record through five games. While it is early, we are seeing a very up tempo team right now, and they have been getting great chemistry from their young core. How long will this last before other teams settle into better form? we will see. However, as of right now, the Habs are nothing short of impressive. 

The St. Louis Blues on the other hand, have taken last season’s woes into this year, losing 4 of their 5 games so far to start. Apart from the season opener which was a 5-1 loss against Winnipeg, the Blues have just been on the wrong side of close games against competitive Western Conference teams. Coming into the East, things may be a little different. 

The Blues have founded their season so far under a defensive philosophy orchestrated by Mike Yeo, and this is very important for overcoming adversity, but even more so for shutting down a group of fast kids. I think the Blues catch a break today, the same way the Kings did when they were in town. 

We have quite an inflation of Montreal lines, due to their hot start in combination with Original Six favor. Let’s take advantage of it.

Blues moneyline -105  1.5*