Gila River Arena will play host to a Western Conference matchup as the Minnesota Wild take on the Arizona Coyotes. It’s the third and final time that these two clubs will meet in the regular season. The match gets going at 9 p.m. ET on Saturday, March 17 and it will air live on Fox Arizona Plus.
Minnesota Wild at Arizona Coyotes Odds
Minnesota is 39-31 straight up (SU) and has netted moneyline bettors 0.1 units this season. 36 of its outings 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 opportunities this season, a figure that’s right around league average. Its penalty kill is ranked 20th overall, and it’s successfully killed off 79.2 percent of its penalties.
For the team as a whole, Minnesota has been sent to the penalty box 3.8 times per game overall during the 2017-18 season, and 2.2 per game over its last five road outings. The team’s been forced to kill penalties 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 season. If head coach Bruce Boudreau chooses to rest him, however, the team could roll with Alex Stalock (9-16-2 record, .912 save percentage, 2.83 goals against average).
Eric Staal and Mikael Granlund will both lead the offensive 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 notched at least one point in 36 games.
Arizona is 23-47 straight up (SU) and has lost 17.7 units for moneyline bettors this year. 37 of its contests have gone under the total, while 32 have gone over and just one has pushed. It’s 14-23 SU at home this year.
Arizona has converted on just 15.9 percent of its power play opportunities this year, a figure 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 penalties.
Arizona skaters have been called for penalties 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 at home. The team’s been forced to kill penalties 8.5 minutes per game over their last 10 outings.
Antti Raanta has denied 26.8 shots per game as the top choice in goal for Arizona. Raanta has 16 wins, 23 losses, and six overtime losses to his credit and has maintained a 2.43 goals against average and a .924 save percentage this season.
The Coyotes offense will be led by Clayton Keller (19 goals, 32 assists).
Minnesota Wild at Arizona Coyotes Free Picks
Free NHL Pick: SU Winner – Wild, O/U – Under
Notes
Betting Notes
The total has gone under 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 penalty box for fewer than 10 minutes, total.
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 lately, as the team has created 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 overall).
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