In their third and last head-to-head meeting of the regular season, the Edmonton Oilers and the Minnesota Wild take the ice at the Xcel Energy Center in a Western Conference showdown. The opening face-off takes place at 8 p.m. ET on Monday, April 2, and you can catch the game live on Sportsnet West.
Edmonton Oilers vs. Minnesota Wild Odds
With a moneyline of -200, Minnesota enters the contest as the heavy favorite. The line for Edmonton sits at +170 and the Over/Under (O/U) is set at 6 goals (-120 money on the over, +100 on the under).
The Wild are 43-35 straight up (SU) and have earned 2.2e-16 units for moneyline bettors this season. That winning percentage, the third-best in the Central Division in this young season, is a regression from the 49-33 record that the team posted during last year’s regular season campaign. Through 78 regular season outings, 39 of its games have gone over the total, while 35 have gone under and just four have pushed. The team is 26-14 SU at home this season.
Minnesota has converted on 20.6 percent of its power play opportunities this season, a figure that’s right around league average. On the other hand, its penalty kill is ranked 15th overall, and it’s successfully killed off 80.6 percent of all penalties.
Minnesota, as a collective unit, has been called for penalties 3.8 times per game overall this season, 3.4 per game over its last five games total, and 3.4 per game over its last five home outings. The team’s had to kill penalties for just 6.8 minutes per game over its last 10 matchups, overall.
Sporting a .917 save percentage and 27.2 saves per game, Devan Dubnyk (34-23-7) has been the best goalkeeper for the Wild this year. If head coach Bruce Boudreau decides to rest him, however, the team could go with Alex Stalock (10-17-17 record, .913 save percentage, 2.76 goals against average).
The Wild will continue seeking offensive production out of Eric Staal and Mikael Granlund. Staal (74 points) has produced 40 goals and 34 assists and has recorded multiple points in 17 different games this year. Granlund has 20 goals and 44 assists to his credit and has recorded a point in 40 contests.
On the other side of the ice, Edmonton is 34-45 straight up (SU) and has lost 17.6 units for bettors taking the moneyline this year. Through 79 regular season matches, 38 of its games have gone under the total, while 37 have gone over and just four have pushed. As a road team, Edmonton is 17-23 SU.
Edmonton has converted on just 14.3 percent of its power play chances this season, a figure that places it in the bottom- overall among NHL teams. On the other hand, its penalty kill unit is ranked 27th overall and it’s successfully killed off 75.9 percent of all penalties.
Edmonton’s skaters have been penalized 3.7 times per game this season, and 3.0 per game over their past five outings. The team has had to kill penalties just 7.9 minutes per game over their last 10 outings.
Cam Talbot (27.3 saves per game) has been the primary choice in the net for Edmonton. Talbot has 30 wins, 34 losses, and three overtime losses to his credit, and has registered a .906 save percentage and 3.06 goals against average this year.
For the visiting Oilers, the offense will be facilitated through Connor McDavid, who has 62 assists and 41 goals on the year.
Edmonton Oilers at Minnesota Wild Free Picks
NHL Pick: SU Winner – Wild, O/U – Under
Notes
Betting Trends
The total has gone under in four of Minnesota’s last five games.
The Oilers are 15-25 SU in games where they serve more penalty minutes than their opponent while the Wild are 20-14 SU when they serve more minutes than their opponent.
Edmonton is 4-1 in games decided by a shootout this season while Minnesota is 3-3 in shootouts.
Minnesota has averaged 6.2 takeaways per game over its last five home games, a slight drop from its season average of 5.9 takeaways per game (ranked 27th in the NHL).
Edmonton has allowed 3.2 goals per game as a team this season, but is giving up 4.3 goals per match up over its last four games (0-4 SU over that span).
Edmonton is ranked ninth overall this season with 8.3 takeaways per game. That figure has trended upward lately, as the team has managed 9.3 takeaways over its last 10 games and 9.4 takeaways over its last five.
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