St. Louis Blues @ Colorado Avalanche - January 31, 2025

Alright, folks, gather ’round because we’ve got a classic showdown brewing between the St. Louis Blues and the Colorado Avalanche at Ball Arena this Friday night. If you know anything about hockey, it’s that familiarity breeds contempt—and these two teams have plenty of history to fuel some animosity on the ice.

The oddsmakers opened with Colorado as -189 favorites, which is pretty telling given their current form. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves; both teams are coming off losses that left their fans scratching their heads. The Avs recently fell 5-2 to the Islanders, while St. Louis also suffered a similar fate against Vancouver. So, we’re looking at two teams desperate for redemption.

When I look at Colorado’s offensive stats—3.25 goals per game and a decent shooting percentage hovering around 11.4%—it’s clear they can put pucks in the net when they want to. They’ve got a solid corsi percentage of 53.7%, indicating they control play more often than not. However, their recent struggles (1-4 SU in the last five games) suggest something’s off.

Now let’s talk about St. Louis—a team that has been floundering lately with just 2.7 goals per game and an even lower shooting percentage of 10.4%. Their corsi numbers aren’t great either at 49.6%, meaning they’re spending too much time chasing the puck instead of controlling it themselves.

On special teams, both squads have seen better days: Colorado has a power play percentage of just over 20%, while St. Louis lags behind at nearly 19%. When it comes to penalty kills, neither team is lighting up the scoreboard—Colorado sits at around 79%, while St. Louis is struggling significantly lower at roughly 72%. This might open some opportunities for scoring chances if penalties come into play.

So what do I expect? Well, my gut tells me that Colorado will edge out St. Louis in this matchup—maybe even convincingly—but here’s where it gets interesting: I think St. Louis will cover the spread despite losing outright because they tend to keep things close even when they’re down on their luck.

And about that total score—I’m leaning toward under 7 goals here based on recent performances from both squads and how tightly contested this matchup tends to be historically.

In summary: I’m betting on Colorado to take home the win but expect St. Louis to keep it within reach enough to cover that spread; and don’t be surprised if we see fewer than seven goals scored in total tonight! As always, remember my little superstitions before placing those bets—maybe wear your lucky socks or grab your favorite snack before tuning in! Good luck out there!