Blues vs Jets Game 2 Best Bets, Injuries & Predictions (Monday, Apr. 21)
By Chris Amberley in NHL Hockey
Published:
- The Jets are -192 moneyline favorites over the Blues in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series
- Winnipeg rallied to take the series opener 5-3 on home ice
- See my Blues vs Jets Game 2 best bets and predictions, plus injury news, below
If the Winnipeg Jets are going to successfully navigate the NHL playoff bracket, they’ll need a better effort from perennial Vezina Trophy-contender Connor Hellebuyck. The 31-year-old underwhelmed in his team’s Game 1 victory against the St. Louis Blues, but I’m betting we don’t see a repeat performance when the two teams meet tonight.
Puck drop is scheduled for 7:30 pm ET at the Canada Life Center, in Winnipeg, MB, with ESPN2 providing the broadcast coverage.
St Louis Blues vs Winnipeg Jets Odds
Hellebuyck and the Jets are -192 moneyline favorites, and are laying -1.5 goals on the puck line. The Blues come back as +160 underdogs, while the total sits at 5.5, with the juice shaded heavily towards the under.
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Odds as of April 21st at Caesars. Check out SBD’s Caesars Sportsbook review to see the available sign-up bonuses.
Per the NHL public betting trends, Winnipeg was a very profitable team to under bettors this season. 56% of their games fell under the total, which was the fifth highest under rate in the NHL.
Blues vs Jets Injuries
Back to Hellebuyck, and why this game sets up to be low-scoring in a minute. First, we need an injury update on Winnipeg’s Gabriel Vilardi. The 25-year-old hasn’t played since March 23rd due to an upper-body injury.
Vilardi still hasn’t been cleared for contact, but he’s getting close. He skated for the second straight day Monday morning in a non-contact jersey, and the team has one more scheduled practice tomorrow before flying to St. Louis for Game 3.
The hope is he can suit up in Game 3, but we won’t know until closer to puck drop on Thursday. Vilardi was fifth on the team in scoring this season, with 27 goals and 61 points.
St Louis Blues vs Winnipeg Jets Predictions
As for Game 2, I’m predicting we don’t get anywhere near the offense we saw in Game 1. Winnipeg prevailed 5-3, getting 3 points a piece from stars Kyle Connor and Mark Scheifele.
St. Louis got goals from its stars Jordan Kyrou and Robert Thomas, but the bigger mystery was the play in net of both Hellebuyck and Jordan Binnington. Don’t forget, we’re only two months removed from these two starring at the 4 Nations Face-Off for Canada and the US.
Hellebuyck stopped only 14 of 17 shots, while Binnington wasn’t much better allowing four goals on 25 shots. They posted save percentages of .824 and .840 respectively, numbers we aren’t likely to see again given their pedigrees.
Jordan Binnington vs Connor Hellebuyck 2024-25 Stats
Hellebuyck led the league in wins, goals against average and shutouts, ranking second in save percentage. Binnington is a former champion in the Stanley Cup odds, and boasts 20 playoff wins on his resume.
Yes, the Jets were one of the four highest scoring teams this season, but they actually over-performed their expected goal total by 26 goals. Game 1 was no different, as they beat their expected goals total by 1.35 goals. At some point, the offense is going to go through some regression.
Blues vs Jets Best Bets
- Under 5.5 (-142 at Caesars)
Speaking of over-performing, that was also St. Louis in Game 1. They beat their expected goals total by 2 goals. Considering they’re facing the best goaltender in the league, and the league’s number one scoring defense, we shouldn’t expect the Blues offensive success to continue.
Which is why I’m betting under 5.5 goals in Game 2. Playoff hockey breeds low-scoring games. We saw the exact opposite of that in Game 1, but history will not repeat itself.
Hellebuyck’s career playoff numbers are underwhelming (19-27, 2.85 GAA, .909 SV%), but he’s played too well this season not to show up in back-to-back outings.
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Sports Writer
As SBD's resident Swiss Army Knife, Chris covers virtually every sport including NFL, PGA, NBA, MLB, NCAAB, NCAAF and the Olympics. A true grinder, he'd rather pick off small edges in the player props market than swing for the fences with a 5-leg parlay.
