Gila River Arena is playing host a Western Conference tilt as the Minnesota Wild travel to Arizona to take on the Coyotes. It’s the third and last time that the two clubs will meet in the regular season. Fox Arizona Plus will showcase the matchup, which gets going at 9 p.m. ET on Saturday, March 17.
Minnesota Wild at Arizona Coyotes Odds
Minnesota is 39-31 straight up (SU) and has earned 0.1 units for moneyline bettors this year. Through 70 regular season outings, 36 of its games have gone over the total, while 30 have gone under and just four have pushed. The Wild are 15-19 SU as a road team in 2017-18.
Minnesota has converted on 21.0 percent of its power play chances this year, a figure that’s right around league average. Its penalty kill is ranked 20th in the league, and it has successfully killed off 79.2 percent of all penalties.
For the team as a whole, Minnesota has been penalized 3.8 times per game this season, and 2.2 per game over its last five on the road. The team has had to stave off opponent power plays just 6.3 minutes per game over their last 10 outings.
Averaging 27.1 saves per game with a .915 save percentage, Devan Dubnyk (31-20-5) has been the top option in goal for Minnesota this year. If it chooses to rest him, however, head coach Bruce Boudreau may turn to Alex Stalock (9-16-2), who has a .912 save percentage and 2.83 goals against average this year.
Eric Staal and Mikael Granlund will both spearhead the attack for the visiting Wild. Staal (68 points) has tallied 37 goals and 31 assists, and has recorded two or more points in 17 different games. Granlund has 19 goals and 38 assists to his credit, and has registered a point in 36 games.
On the other side of the ice, Arizona is 23-47 straight up (SU) and has lost 17.7 units for moneyline bettors this year. Through 70 regular season outings, 37 of its games have gone under the total, while 32 have gone over and just one has pushed. It’s 14-23 SU as the home team this season.
Arizona has converted on just 15.9 percent of its power play opportunities this season, a mark that’s ranked 28th in the NHL. On the other hand, its penalty kill is ranked 19th overall, and it’s successfully killed off 79.8 percent of all opponent power plays.
Arizona players have been penalized only 3.3 times per game in total this season, 3.6 per game over their past five outings total, and 3.2 per game over their last five home outings. The teams been forced to kill penalties 8.5 minutes per game over their last 10 outings.
Antti Raanta has stopped 26.8 shots per game as the top netminder in goal for Arizona. Raanta has 16 wins, 23 losses, and six overtime losses and has maintained a .924 save percentage and 2.43 goals against average this season.
The home team offense will be led by Clayton Keller (19 goals, 32 assists).
Minnesota Wild at Arizona Coyotes Betting Predictions
Free NHL Tip: SU Winner – Wild, O/U – Under
Betting Notes
- The under has hit in three of Arizona’s last five outings.
- The Coyotes are 10-20 in games where they serve fewer penalty minutes than their opponent and 17-34 when they’re in the box for fewer than 10 total penalty minutes.
- Minnesota is 3-2 in games decided by a shootout this season while Arizona is 2-5 in shootouts.
- Arizona is ranked 30th overall with 5.2 takeaways per game. That figure has trended upward recently, as it has forced 6.1 takeaways over its last 10 games and 7.6 takeaways over its last five.
- Minnesota skaters have averaged 4.6 takeaways per game over its last five road games, a drop-off from its season average of 5.8 takeaways per game (ranked 27th).
