Overview
The New York Rangers visit the Xcel Energy Center tonight where they take on the Minnesota Wild. The Wild haven’t had much luck versus the Rangers over the years winning just 6 of 18 meetings since 2000 although they have played them slightly better at home where they have won 4 of the last 7 meetings.
Head to Head Trends
Rangers are 4-1 in the last 5 meetings.
Minnesota Wild (-125)
The Minnesota Wild are 3rd in the Central Division with 38 points 10 points back of the 1st place Dallas Stars. The Wild started the season pretty hot winning 10 of their first 15 games but they hit a bit of a rough stretch in mid November losing 6 of 7 games. Since December came along it looks like the Wild are back playing good solid hockey again winning 5 of 7 games with the 2 losses coming in overtime so they have picked up points in 7 straight games.
The Wild have a middle of road offense averaging 2.72 goals per game but they do have one of the better defenses in the league allowing just 2.34 goals per game. The goaltending dou of Darcy Kuemper and Devan Dubnyk have also been on fire of late allowing just 7 goals total over their last 7 games.
Minnesota Wild Trends
Wild are 11-4 in their last 15 home games.
Wild are 12-5 in their last 17 vs. Eastern Conference.
New York Rangers (+115)
The New York Rangers are 2nd in the Metropolitan Division with 42 points 4 points behind the 1st place Washington Capitals. The Rangers were the hottest team in hockey not to long ago winning 12 of 14 games but what goes up must come down and they did losing 8 of their last 11 games.
The Rangers have one of the better offenses in the league averaging 2.91 goals per game and they also have one of the best defenses in the league allowing just 2.25 goals per game. You wouldn’t think the Rangers have one of the best defenses in the league the way they have been playing of late allowing 14 goals over their last 3 games.
New York Rangers Trends
Rangers are 3-8 in their last 11 overall.
Rangers are 0-5 in their last 5 road games.
Conclusion
I like the Minnesota Wild over the Rangers in this one. The Wild have been hot of late plus they tend to play great at home in general while the Rangers have been slumping pretty bad over the last few weeks especially on the road where they have lost their last 5 games.
Free Pick: Minnesota Wild -125
