Two of the league’s best at killing off power plays, the Colorado Avalanche and the Minnesota Wild take the ice at the Xcel Energy Center for a Central Division showdown. The action will get started at 8 p.m. ET on Saturday, October 27, and it is being televised live on Fox Sports North.
Colorado Avalanche vs. Minnesota Wild Odds
Minnesota (-155) is currently favored over Colorado (+135) and the Over/Under (O/U) is set at 6 goals. The line for betting the total stands at -125 over, +105 under.
Colorado is 7-4 straight up (SU) and has netted 2.0 units for moneyline bettors this season. Through 11 regular season outings, six of its games have gone under the total, while four have gone over and none have pushed. As the road team this season, the Avs are 4-2 SU.
The Avalanche have converted on 27.5 percent of their power play opportunities so far. That’s a noticeable improvement from last season, when they were ranked 10th in the league by converting on 21.3 percent of their extra-man opportunities. Their penalty kill has also gotten stronger year-over-year, as they’ve gone from successfully defending 83.3 percent of opponents’ power plays (ranked third overall last year) to 89.4 percent this year.
For the team as a whole, the Avs have been penalized 5.1 times per game in the 2018-19 season. Last year, that number was the mark in the league at 4.0 penalties per game. After serving an average of 9.2 penalty minutes per game a season ago the team’s had to stave off opponent power plays for 11.5 minutes per outing this year.
Averaging 32.0 saves per game with a .953 save percentage, Semyon Varlamov (4-3-2) has been the top option in goal for Colorado this season. If Colorado chooses to rest him, however, the team may turn to Philipp Grubauer (3-1), who has a .916 save percentage and 2.76 goals against average this year.
The visiting Avalanche have relied heavily on Mikko Rantanen and Nathan MacKinnon this year. Rantanen (20 points) has tallied five goals and 15 assists, and has recorded multiple points in four different games. MacKinnon has nine goals and nine assists to his creditand has registered at least one point in nine games.
Over on the other bench, Minnesota is 5-4 straight up (SU) and has earned moneyline bettors 0.8 units this year. Through nine regular season outings, five of its games have gone under the total, while three have gone over and just one has pushed. The team is 4-2 SU at home thus far.
The Wild have scored on 11.5 percent of their extra-man advantages this year after converting on 20.6 percent (ranked 16th in league) last season. They have killed off a remarkable 84.2 percent of their penalties, a few points up from the 80.9 percent they posted a year ago (when they were ranked 12th in the NHL).
Minnesota skaters have been penalized 5.3 times per game this season, a number that’s climbed noticeably from the 3.8 penalties per game given up last year. After serving an average of 8.6 penalty minutes per game a season ago the team’s had to kill penalties for a whopping 11.7 minutes per contest this year.
Devan Dubnyk has stopped 34.7 shots per game as the primary choice in goal for the Wild. Dubnyk has four wins, three losses, and two OT losses and has registered a .946 save percentage and a solid 1.95 goals against average this season.
Zach Parise (three goals, eight assists) will pace the offensive counter for the Wild.
Colorado Avalanche at Minnesota Wild Betting Predictions
Free Prediction: SU Winner – Wild, O/U – Over
Click Here to Start Betting Today!
Notes
Betting Notes
The Avalanche are 3-1 in games where they serve fewer penalty minutes than their opponent and 2-0 when they serve fewer than 10 total penalty minutes.
The under has hit in three of Minnesota’s last five outings.
Minnesota has allowed 2.8 goals per game overall this year, but has allowed just 1.8 per contest over its four-game winning streak.
*****
