Overview
The Montreal Canadians visit the Xcel Energy Center in Minnesota Wednesday where they take on the Wild. The Canadians have played the Wild well over the past few years winning 6 of the last 8 meetings since 2006 but they are just 3-3 in the last 6 meetings played in Minnesota.
Head to Head Trends
Home team is 4-0 in the last 4 meetings.
Canadians are 4-1 in the last 5 meetings.
Minnesota Wild (-145)
The Minnesota Wild are 5th in the Central Division with 27 points 7 points back of the 1st place Nashville Predators. The Wild got off to a very quick start this season winning 7 of their first 10 games and they actually only allowed 4 goals through their first 5 games which was very impressive but you knew that couldn’t last and it didn’t as they then lost 4 straight getting outscored 14-3. The Wild have a solid offense averaging 2.8 goals per game but it could be so much better if they could do anything on their power play. The Wild actually has the 2nd worst power play in the league at just 9.6% which is pretty amazing for a team that’s scoring close to 3 goals per game. The Wild are very strong on defense allowing 2.4 goals per game and they also have the lowest shots allowed per game at just 25.8.
Minnesota Wild Trends
Wild are 38-17 in their last 55 home games.
Wild are 4-0 in their last 4 after scoring 2 goals or less in their previous game.
Montreal Canadians (+135)
The Montreal Canadians are 2nd in the Atlantic Division with 36 points just 1 point behind the 1st place Tampa Bay Lightning. The Canadians also got off to a quick start this season winning 7 of their first 8 games but that was largely due to being super lucky and it looks like some of that luck is starting to wear off as they have now lost 3 of their last 4 games two of which were to the last place Buffalo Sabres. The Canadians are averaging 2.7 goals per game on offense and 2.5 goals per game on defense.
Montreal Canadians Trends
Canadians are 9-4 in their last 13 overall.
Canadians are 5-1 in their last 6 games playing on 1 days rest.
Conclusion
I like the Minnesota Wild over the Canadians in this one. I think the Canadians record of 17-9 is way higher then it should be for a team who have scored just 3 more goals then they have allowed so I think they’re due to lose a few games plus the Wild have been one of the best home teams in the league over the past few seasons.
Free Pick: Minnesota Wild -145
