Blues vs Penguins Odds, Predictions and Best NHL Pick for Wednesday (Jan 5)

• The Pittsburgh Penguins are home favorites against the St. Louis Blues on January 5th, 2022
• The Penguins are riding a season-high, eight-game winning streak
• Read below for Blues vs Penguins odds, betting analysis and best bet

The NHL’s hottest team, the Pittsburgh Penguins, host the St. Louis Blues at PPG Paints Arena at 7:30pm ET on Wednesday, January 5th.

Coming off a wild 8-5 victory over San Jose, Pittsburgh is listed as -136 home favorites in the Blues vs Penguins odds.

Let’s delve a little deeper into the Blues vs Penguins odds and lines and zero in on what the best NHL pick is.

Blues vs Penguins Odds

Odds as of January 4th at Barstool Sportsbook

Scorching Hot Penguins are Betting Favorites

Usually Penguins are associated with the cold, but not this squad. They’ve won eight in a row, but still sit just fourth in the Metropolitan Division.

The sportsbooks have definitely noticed Pittsburgh’s rise though as their Stanley Cup odds have shortened from +3000 in November to just +1800 now.

You get a hat trick! You get a hat trick!

Evan Rodrigues and Bryan Rust combine for SIX goals today. 🎩🎩🎩 pic.twitter.com/GjavbWTOHS

— NHL (@NHL) January 2, 2022

They came out guns blazing in the first period of their win against the Sharks, jumping out to a 6-1 lead after the first frame. Evan Rodrigues and Bryan Rust both netted hat tricks in that win, the first time two Pens teammates had done that since Petr Sykora and Pascal Dupuis on December 11th, 2008.

Captain Sidney Crosby has been leading the way during the Penguins’ run of good form, pacing the team with 12 points after an injury-riddled slow start to the season.

Blues One of NHL’s Best Against Spread

St. Louis should prove to be a tough test for the Penguins. The Blues have the 3rd-best return on investment in the NHL this season when betting them against the spread. They entered Tuesday night’s action sitting atop the Central Division.

The hallmark of the Blues’ organization always seems to be balanced scoring and contributions from all parts of the lineup and that is no different this year.

It's Jordan Kyrou's world and we're just living in it.#stlblues | @jagermeisterusa pic.twitter.com/quxyUwMCD1

— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) January 2, 2022

They have five players with 10 or more goals year and only one other team, the Colorado Avalanche with six, has more.

Jordan Kyrou is one of the Blues’ pleasant surprises this season. He’s got 32 points and just set a Winter Classic record with four points in one game in the Blues’ 6-4 New Year’s Day win against the Wild.

Penguins Players Return From COVID-19

The Penguins also got a boost in practice on Tuesday as a number of players should be available after being removed from COVID-19 protocols.

The Penguins took three steps forward and one step back on the COVID front today.

As Drew O'Connor entered the protocol, Kasperi Kapanen, Tristan Jarry and Teddy Blueger rejoined practice.

Here's the quick story from Cranberry:https://t.co/zZQDmOnqP1

— Mike DeFabo (@MikeDeFabo) January 4, 2022

Amongst those returning is goalie Tristan Jarry, who is expected to get the nod between the pipes against the Blues. Perhaps no goalie has had their Vezina Trophy odds improve since the start of the season as much as Jarry, who is now amongst the top-10 contenders for the trophy with odds of +1800.

Coming into Tuesday night’s action, the Pens’ netminder ranked in the top five in wins, shutouts, save percentage and goals against average with a 15-5-4 record, 1.93 GAA and .932 save percentage.

Blues vs Penguins Recent Results

Blues vs Penguins Betting Trends

There always seems to be a few quirky betting trends in certain matchups that make you pause for a second before making your pick. There are a couple that made me hesitate when deciding my best bet in this game.

The first, the road team is 6-2 in their last eight meetings. So the edge is with St. Louis on that one. The second, the Blues are 6-2 in their last eight meetings in Pittsburgh. Again, edge to St. Louis, and no, the last eight times these teams met haven’t all been in Pittsburgh. It’s just a coincidence.

Blues vs Penguins Pick

I’m going to roll the dice here and say the Penguins’ streak ends Wednesday night.

It’s tough to go against a team on an eight-game winning streak, but the Blues are playing extremely well too, having won seven of their last nine in the last month. Jarry hasn’t played a game in over two weeks, so he could be a bit rusty.

I like the Blues as the road underdog, so bet St. Louis on the moneyline at +112 at Barstool Sportsbook.

Pick: St. Louis Blues Moneyline (+112)