Minnesota Wild and Pittsburgh Penguins will face each other in one of the most interesting matches of the NHL action on Thursday evening. The hosts have been running hot lately, and they want to continue in the same fashion. The away side was not very confident recently, and they look forward to stabilizing their form.
Minnesota fights for the best possible position in the Western Conference since they are still in the game for 2nd position. Their confidence is very high after the recent successful streak, and they want to pick up where they left off. On the other hand, Pittsburgh has had some issues lately that they need to resolve. The visitors need to be more consistent ahead of the post-season.
Minnesota Wild – Can they extend their winning streak?
The Wild has been on a victorious streak lately since the hosts booked seven straight wins. That run launched them to 2nd place in the Central Division with a 41-20-4 record, being three points ahead of the St. Louis Blues and having a game in hand. It’s going to be their ninth straight game on the home ice, and in the latest one, Minnesota was better than the Philadelphia Flyers in a 4-1 victory. Marc-Andre Fleury had an excellent display between the pipes, having a .970 save percentage, while Joel Eriksson Ek and Frederick Gaudreau had two assists each.
Kirill Kaprizov has been the Wild’s most dominant player in the offense with 82 points, including a team-high 37 goals. Mats Zuccarello tops the assists charts with 48 while producing a total of 67 points. Kevin Fiala managed to reach the 60-point mark, while Ryan Hartman chipped in with 50 pts. On the other hand, Marc-Andre Fleury became the first-choice goalie, and he allowed just 1.5 goals per game in his first two appearances.
Expected Line-Up: Marc-Andre Fleury, Jonas Brodin, Alex Goligoski, Mats Zuccarello, Ryan Hartman, Kirill Kaprizov
with best odds
Pittsburgh Penguins – Will they bounce back with a win?
The Penguins are on the right track to the playoffs, but they haven’t been too confident lately. They lost three times on the previous four occasions and slipped to 3rd place in the Metropolitan Division with a 40-18-10 record. Pittsburgh is three points away from the Rangers, while the top-placed Hurricanes are six points ahead. They need to do better than in their latest 3-2 defeat against the New York Rangers to secure a positive result on this trip. Pittsburgh had only 24 shots in that match, and they should be more clinical in the final third.
Sidney Crosby leads the Penguins’ offense with 70 points, while Jake Guentzel is the team’s top scorer with 31 goals and a total of 65 pts. Kris Letang contributed with 58 points thanks to a team-high 51 assists, while Bryan Rust has produced 55 points. Evan Rodrigues reached the 40-point mark, while three other skaters chipped in with 30+ pts. On the goal, Tristan Jarry has spent most of the time with 53 appearances, having a .921 save percentage and allowing 2.33 goals per contest.
Expected Line-Up: Tristan Jarry, Kris Letang, John Marino, Sidney Crosby, Jake Guentzel, Bryan Rust
Expert Pick #1 – Wild to win (Inc. OT and Pen) @-120
Minnesota has been in a much better momentum, and I expect them to continue their winning streak on the home ice. Pittsburgh will be a challenging opponent, but I’ll back the Wild to win as my first pick.
Expert Pick #2 – Under 6.5 @-115
The Under has been a pretty common outcome on the totals market for both teams recently. The last six Minnesota’s games stayed under the margin, while the Under cashed eight times in the Penguins’ previous 11 road matches. Give me the Under as the second bet.
Expert Pick #3 – Penguins Under 3.5 @-170
Although the Wild hasn’t been too disciplined in the back this season, they improved their defensive work over the past few weeks. Minnesota held their opponents under a 2.5 margin seven times in a row, while the Penguins failed to score more than three goals five times in their last six outings. Therefore, I’ll take this one as the third pick, although the odds are lower than in the first two.
