Rogers Place will be hosting a Western Conference showdown as the Edmonton Oilers square off against the visiting Minnesota Wild. This one gets going at 10 p.m. ET on Saturday, March 10 and it can be seen live on CBC Sports.
Minnesota Wild vs. Edmonton Oilers Odds
Minnesota is 39-29 straight up (SU) and has earned moneyline bettors 2.2 units this season. Through 68 regular season matches, 35 of its games have gone over the total, while 29 have gone under and just three have pushed. As the away team in 2017-18, the Wild are 15-18 SU.
Minnesota has converted on 21.7 percent of its power play chances this season, a figure that places them in the top-10 among NHL teams. Additionally, its penalty kill is ranked 17th in the league, and it’s successfully killed off 80.5 percent of all penalties.
Minnesota, as a collective unit, has been sent to the penalty box 3.8 times per game during the 2017-18 season, and 2.2 per game over its last five on the road. The team has had to kill penalties just 6.1 minutes per game over their last 10 outings.
Boasting a .918 save percentage and 27.4 saves per game, Devan Dubnyk (31-18-5) has been the primary option in goal for Minnesota this year. Dubnyk played last night, however, so Minnesota could choose to rest him and turn to Alex Stalock instead (9-16-2 record, .912 save percentage, 2.83 goals against average).
Eric Staal and Mikael Granlund will both look to continue their strong seasons for the visiting Wild. Staal has 68 points on 37 goals and 31 assists, and has recorded multiple points in 17 different games. Granlund has 19 goals and 38 assists to his credit (and has logged at least one point in 35 games).
On the other bench, Edmonton is 29-38 straight up (SU) and has lost 16.4 units for moneyline bettors thus far. 32 of its games have gone over the total, while another 32 have gone under and just three have pushed. This season, the team’s 15-19 SU at home.
Edmonton has converted on just 14.2 percent of its power play opportunities this season, a figure that’s ranked 32nd in the NHL. On the other hand, its penalty kill is ranked 31st overall, and it’s successfully killed off 74.0 percent of all penalties.
Edmonton players have been sent to the penalty box 3.7 times per game in total this season, and 2.6 per game over their last five at home. The team has had to defend opponent power plays just 6.5 minutes per game over their last 10 outings.
Cam Talbot (27.3 saves per game) has been the primary netminder in goal for Edmonton. Talbot has 25 wins, 29 losses, and two overtime losses and has recorded a poor .905 save percentage and 3.07 goals against average this season.
Connor McDavid (31 goals, 50 assists) will pace the attack for the Oilers.
Minnesota Wild vs. Edmonton Oilers Betting Predictions
Prediction: SU Winner – Oilers, O/U – Under
Notes
Betting Trends
The over has hit in four of Minnesota’s last five outings.
Minnesota has managed 32.8 shot attempts per game over its last five road games while Edmonton is averaging 38.2 shots per game over its last five home outings.
The Oilers are 12-24 SU in games where they serve more penalty minutes than their opponent while the Wild are 19-12 SU when they spend more time in the box than the opposition.
Two of Edmonton’s last ten games have gone to a shootout. The team is 2-0 in those games and 4-1 overall in shootouts this year.
Edmonton is ranked 8th in the league this season with 8.1 takeaways per game. That figure has trended higher, as the team has forced 9.3 takeaways over its last 10 games and 12.8 takeaways over its last five.
Minnesota has averaged 3.2 goals per game overall this year, but is scoring 5.0 per contest in their last three games (the team’s a perfect 3-0 SU over that span)
Minnesota has averaged 3.8 takeaways per game over its last five road games, a drop-off from its season average of 5.8 takeaways per game (ranked 29th overall).
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