St. Louis at Vancouver

Credit to the Blues, who have gone 7-4 since the Olympic break to keep their playoff hopes alive in a tight Western Conference wild card race. St. Louis has a plus-10 goal differential during this span. However, St. Louis can't afford to get a victory here against Vancouver. The Canucks are the worst team in the NHL with 50 points. That is 13 points fewer than the next-worst team. Vancouver is last defensively and also in killing off penalties. The Canucks are second-to-last in scoring. They have lost 25 of their last 30 games. The Blues have a rest advantage. They last played on Wednesday, while Vancouver lost, 6-2, to the Lightning at home this past Thursday. This is a rare day home game for the Canucks, so they have even less rest time. St. Louis is in must-win mode after losing the first two games of its three-game road trip, 2-1 to the Flames in a shootout and 3-2 to the Jets. St. Louis had won its previous five road games, defeating the Hurricanes, Ducks, Sharks, Kraken, and Wild. Take the Blues.