The Vancouver Canucks are traveling to St. Louis hoping to end a six-game slide. The Blues are looking to continue pursuit of the Central Division title, entering Friday two points behind the Stars but with a game in hand. I think the home-team is unreasonable big favorites tonight though and would not be surprised to see the Nucks record an upset.

Here are my keys to the game:

1. Vancouver's Last Game - The Nucks had been shut out in three consecutive games prior to an improved performance in last night's 3-2 shootout loss at Nashville. "It's never good to lose, but you've got to look at the way we played and I thought we played one of our best games of the year," captain Henrik Sedin said. I think it will be a positive for the Canucks to be able to ride that momentum here the next day and the Nucks are 10-4 in their last 14 games following OT on the previous day.

2. Previous Meetings - The Blues defeated the Nucks 3-0 at Vancouver on Saturday, but the Canucks have won six of the last eight in the series and four of the last five meetings at Scottrade Center.

3. X-Factor - Vancouver's Jannik Hansen returned to the lineup last night after sitting out almost a month with a rib injury. Good news for the injury riddled Canucks.

Selection: This is a play on the Vancouver Canucks +1.5 (10*)