Free NHL Pick – St. Louis at Carolina in Monday action

St. Louis Blues (22-21-8) at Calgary Flames (26-19-6)

When: 9:30 PM ET, Monday, January 25, 2010
Where: Pengrowth Saddledome, Calgary, Alberta

It’s not a very sexy matchup on Monday night, but it is between two teams that had WAY higher expectations this season.

• The Calgary Flames rank 27th on offense, and average 2.5 goals per game. The Flames are 16.1% on the power play and have 28 power play goals.
• The St. Louis Blues rank 22nd on offense, and average 2.6 goals per game. The Blues have the third worst power play in the NHL at 16.0% and have 30 power play goals.
• The Flames average 2.4 goals per game at home, and give up 2.6 goals against on defense.
• The Blues average 2.7 goals per game on the road, and give up 2.5 goals against on defense.

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St Louis Blue – +140

The Blues have really struggled this year. Expectations were high after a surprisingly good campaign last year. They own the fifth worst record in the league. Goals, as always will be hard to come by for the Blues, and they will turn once again to goaltender Chris Mason to close the door on the opposition. Luckily for St. Louis, they pay a visit to and ice-cold Calgary Flames.

The one bright spot for St. Louis is how they play on the road where their record is a decent 13-7-4. They appear to really like traveling to the Western time zone too.  Last time a road trip brought St. Louis to the West, they swept Calgary, Vancouver and Edmonton. Look for a solid effort against the Flames who are definitely ripe for the picking.

Calgary Flames – -160

What has happened to the Calgary Flames? It appears that an annual lack of goal scoring is plaguing this team once again. Jarome Iginla has one goal in his last twelve games, and the supporting cast isn’t doing much better. The Flames have scored only one goal in four of their past five games – not good at all.

All of the goal scoring problems have translated into a five game losing streak and a free fall in the Western Conference standings. Calgary still occupies the eighth and final playoff spot, but their position is tenuous at best. Calgary had better right the ship soon – the likes of Detroit, Anaheim and Dallas are lurking for the final playoff position. It appears as though the Flames might be forced to be buyers at the trade deadline again in order to develop more chemistry and consistency. 

It is really hard to like the Flames right now.  Nothing is working for them.  The Olympic break is upon us – time to make a move and prove that you deserve to be mentioned as an elite NHL team.

Winning Pick: St. Louis Blues +140