It is a Central Division battle as the Minnesota Wild face off with the Colorado Avalanche. It is time to continue our NHL odds series with a Wild-Avalanche prediction, pick, and how-to-watch.
The Wild go into Thursday night sitting at 29-27-6, winning five of their previous ten. They will spend Thursday night facing the Coyotes. It will be their third game with Coyotes this year, with the away team winning both games so far in the series.
Meanwhile, the Avalanche come into the game sitting at 39-20-5 on the year. They are tied for second in the Central Division with Winnipeg and just two points behind the Dallas Stars. they have won four of their last five games overall. In their last game, they faced the Detroit Red Wings. The Wings took a 1-0 lead just 1:48 into the game on a power-play goal, but Cale Makar scored to tie the game. Still, the Wings would strike again, but once again, the Avalanche would tie it up on a Nathan MacKinnon goal. In the second, Artturi Lehkonen scored, and then Cale Makar scored twice to complete his hat-trick to make it 5-2. The Avalanche would add two more goals to make it a 7-2 victory.
Here are the NHL Odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
NHL Odds: Wild-Avalanche Odds
Minnesota Wild: +1.5 (-146)
Moneyline: +164
Colorado Avalanche: -1.5 (+122)
Moneyline: -300
Over: 6.5 (+102)
Under: 6.5 (-124)
How to Watch Wild vs. Avalanche
Time: 9:00 PM ET/ 6:00 PM PT
TV: NHL Network
Stream: fuboTV (Click for free trial)
Why The Wild Will Cover The Spread/Win
Note: All Statistics are before the Wild play the Coyotes on March 7th.
The Wild sit 18th in the NHL this year in goals per game, scoring 3.08 per contest. Kirill Kaprizov leads the team in points this year while also leading the team in goals on the season. He comes into the game with 29 goals and 37 assists on the season, good for 66 points. Kaprizov has also been solid on the power play this year, coming in with ten goals and 20 assists. Meanwhile, Joel Eriksson Ek is second on the team in goals. He comes into the game with 28 goals on the year and 37 assists. That places him tied for second with 55 points. He also has 12 goals and six assists on the power play this season.
Sitting third in points is Matz Zuccarello. He comes in with 11 goals and 39 assists on the year, for his 50 points. He also has been solid on the power play, with five goals and 23 assists on the man advantage. Further, the Wild have Matt Boldy scoring well. He comes into the game with 23 goals on the year and 26 assists, good for 49 total points. He has eight goals and six straight assists on the power play. The Wild also get some help from the blue line on offense. Brock Faber is fifth on the team in points, coming in with four goals and 30 assists on the year.
The Wild are 16th in the NHL this year on the power play. They come into the game with a 21.8 percent conversion rate and 47 power-play goals. Meanwhile, they are 28th in the NHL on the penalty kill, with a 74.5 percent success rate.
Filip Gustavsson is expected to start on Thursday, placing Marc Andre-Fleury in the goal for this one. He is 12-11-3 on the year with a 2.89 goals-against average and a .900 save percentage. He is coming off a solid start, allowing just two goals on 26 shots, but taking the loss to the Blues.
Why The Avalanche Will Cover The Spread/Win
The Avalanche are first in the NHL this year in goals per game, with 3.70 goals per game. Nathan MacKinnon leads the team this year. MacKinnon has the most goals, assists, and points on the Avalanche. He comes into the game with 40 goals and 69 assists, good for 109 total points. Further, he has been amazing on the power play, with nine goals and 29 assists when on the man-advantage. Second on the team in goals and points is Mikko Rantanen. He comes into the game with 31 goals on the year, plus 52 assists, giving him a total of 83 points. Further, he has also been great on the power play, with 11 goals and 23 assists on the power play this year.
The power play is also somewhere Valeri Nichushkin has thrived. He has 22 total goals and 20 assists, with 13 of the goals and three of the assists when on the power play. Further, the Avalanche get a lot of help on offense from the blue line. Meanwhile, Cale Makar is third on the team in points, coming in with 17 goals and 53 assists, good for 70 total points. He has six goals and 24 assists on the power play this year. Devon Toews comes in with 11 goals and 26 assists, good for 37 points from the blue line as well.
The Avalanche's power play ranks seventh in the NHL this year, with a 24.4 percent success rate and 51 total power-play goals on the season. The penalty kill is 11th in the NHL with an 80.5 percent success rate, but seventh in the NHL with seven shorthanded goals.
The Avalanche are expected to send Alexander Georgiev to be in the net for this one. He is 32-15-3 on the year with a 2.89 goals-against average and a .901 save percentage. is coming off another solid start, allowing just two goals on 29 shots, good for a .931 save percentage as the win. It is the third time in the last five games he has allowed two or fewer goals, while he has won each of those starts.
Final Wild-Avalanche Prediction & Pick
While the Wild can have solid games at times, a few major factors are working against them. First, they are playing back-to-back games, both on the road. Second, Marc-Andre Fleury has been very inconsistent this year and is facing an offense firing on all cylinders. Finally, Colorado's goaltending situation has been solid, and the defense has continued to improve this year. With all the weapons Colorado has at their disposal, it is hard to imagine them being slowed down by the Wild. Take the Aves in this game.
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Final Wild-Avalanche Prediction & Pick: Avalanche -1.5 (+122)
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