NHL: Columbus Blue Jackets at St. Louis Blues (-172)

The Blues made a surprising coaching change earlier this season, and now they’re ready to make a run. St. Louis has won five games in a row to get into playoff position in the Western Conference, currently tied with the Kings and Predators with 54 points for the final two wild card spots.

During this stretch, the Blues have won a remarkable four-straight games by final scores of 4-3. The last three have all come in overtime, all by identical scores. It’s a remarkable coincidence. It also shows that not only do they play tight games, but they know how to find the back of the net in the extra period to get the precious two points. 

Meanwhile, it’s another frustrating season in Columbus, as the Blue Jackets are now tied for last place in the Eastern Conference with the Ottawa Senators. They have just 40 points, and their 15 wins are the third fewest in the NHL, only ahead of Chicago and San Jose.

That’s not company you want to keep. The Blues are on the last leg of a grueling five-game road trip before the All-Star break, with stops all over North America. They’ve already lost in Edmonton, Vancouver and Seattle, with their only win during the stretch coming at Calgary.

Overall, the Blue Jackets have left the ice winners in just three of their last 12 games, and two of those came in shootouts. They’re having trouble beating anyone, and if they do, it usually comes down to the wire. A 6-11-6 road mark means if you bet the moneyline against them in their 23 road games, you won 17 times. 

The Blues boast a 15-8-1 record at home, including victories over the Kings and Capitals their last two times skating at Enterprise Center. They have seven players who have scored at least 10 goals, showing a nice and balanced attack.

Center Robert Thomas leads the way with 17 tallies, while winger Kevin Hayes brings up the rear in that group with 10 goals. Twelve guys on the team have at least 18 points, proving that spreading things out is key for St. Louis, not riding a couple of superstars.

Depth is a formula that can deliver wins in the NHL. The Blues are proving that, especially with their recent play. 

Norm LaChatlier’s Pick: St. Louis ML (-172) 

Goaltender Jordan Binnington is starting to look like himself again; he should be back in the net on Tuesday night. Binnington has won each of his last three starts, giving up just six total goals in more than 180 minutes on the ice. He’s 6-1-1 overall in his last eight outings. If he can return to the form that helped the team win the Stanley Cup back in 2019, watch out, St. Louis could be dangerous in the spring. In the meantime, the Blue Jackets are the exact opposite of dangerous, and looking forward to that time off during the All-Star break. This one could get out of hand early, with the Blues taking a laugher and the score in the neighborhood of 5-1.

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NBA: Toronto Raptors at Chicago Bulls

It looks like the Raptors have waved the white flag on this season, trading both OG Anunoby and Pascal Siakam in the last month, while they embrace a potential rebuild. Pieces like Bruce Brown and R.J. Barrett in return are nice, but it feels like they’ll also be moved before the NBA trade deadline.

A combination of younger players and more picks probably means more losses to come the rest of the way, something Toronto has been quite good at lately. The Raptors are just 1-9 over their last 10 games and have lost five in a row overall. Some of those defeats have been flat out ugly, including a 32-point beatdown at Utah, a 26-point shellacking by the Knicks and a 20-point loss to the Clippers. At 16-30 on the year, things are only going to get worse before they get better. 

Meanwhile, the 22-25 Bulls are kind of stuck in the mud. But, they will shoot to make the play-in tournament in a bad Eastern Conference. Right now, they’re the No. 9 seed, ahead of the Hawks but trailing the Heat and Magic.

As we saw last year with Miami, if a team gets into the playoffs, anything can happen. The Heat went from a single elimination game all the way to the NBA Finals.

For Chicago, it’s going to be about finding more consistency, particularly when Zach LaVine is in the lineup. The oft-injured star is expected to miss at least a couple of more games, so he shouldn’t be out there against the Raptors. 

But the Bulls, who are 7-4 over their last 11 games, have some pieces to like. DeMar DeRozan is playing at high level, averaging 22.1 points, 5.4 assists and 4.1 rebounds per game. Coby White has also been a nice surprise, putting up 18.8 points, 5.0 assists and 4.7 rebounds on average. Nikola Vucevic still holds down the middle, as well. If LaVine can mesh with this group or fetch other players and draft picks in a deal, they could make a run.

It shouldn’t matter either way against Toronto. Chicago did already beat them 116-110 earlier this month, and that was on the road. They’re a much better home team, with a 14-10 mark, while the Raptors are just 6-17 away from home. 

Jason Schlefsky’s Pick: Bulls 1-5 (-110)

It had to feel good for Bulls players to sleep in their own beds after a long road trip with stops in Phoenix, Los Angeles and Portland. They played the Suns and Lakers tight in losses, before getting past the Blazers on Sunday by a final score of 104-96. They’ll be ready to go in front of the United Center crowd. The Raptors are only on the second game of a brutal six-game stretch away from home, and they lost to the Hawks by just a single point (126-125) on Sunday night to get things started. They still have to go to Houston, Oklahoma City, New Orleans and Charlotte, and you just know a couple of these will be blowouts. That starts on Tuesday night him Chicago, as the Bulls have no problem covering a relatively tiny number and Toronto’s struggles continue.

And Keep an Eye On…

NBA: Denver Nuggets @ Oklahoma City Thunder (Wednesday 8 pm ET)

With only a half-game separating the Denver Nuggets and Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference standings, Nikola Jokic and Co. return to OKC for the first time since October 29, a game that saw the Nuggets thump the Thunder 128-95. Exactly two months later, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and friends paid Denver a visit and returned the favor in equally convincing fashion, beating the Nuggets 119-93. In the series thus far this season, neither team has won at home. Can the Thunder finally hold serve in this pivotal Western Conference showdown? 

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NHL: LA Kings @ Nashville Predators (Wednesday, 7:30 pm ET)

Both the Kings and Preds have compiled exactly 54 points heading into the NHL All-Star break. With teams like Vancouver, Colorado and Dallas pacing the way in the West, there’s little room for error in Nashville Wednesday night, as both teams find themselves right on the edge of the playoff picture. There’s plenty of time for anything to happen – good or bad – but this last chance to collect points before the break will be key. The Kings have actually been better on the road than Nashville has been at home, which is largely why L.A. enters the game as the favorite.

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NBA: LA Lakers @ Boston Celtics (Thursday, 7:30 pm ET)

This year’s Lakers and Celtics matchup doesn’t exactly feel like the 1980s rivalry that featured the likes of Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. While both brands have certainly had their share of success since then, the current Celtics are the odds-on favorite to win the NBA title, while the Lakers toil around the .500 mark. Like the good ol’ days, however, Thursday’s matchup won’t be short on star power, as LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown are all expected to play.