Overview
The Pittsburgh Penguins visit the Xcel Energy Center in Minnesota tonight where they take on the Minnesota Wild. The Wild haven’t had much luck versus the Penguins of late losing 5 of the last 6 meetings overall but the Wild have won 2 of the last 4 meetings played in Minnesota.
Head to Head Trends
Penguins are 5-1 in the last 6 meetings.
Home team is 4-1 in the last 5 meetings.
Minnesota Wild (-150)
The Minnesota Wild are 4th in the Central Division with 42 points 12 points back of the 1st place Dallas Stars. If the Wild could play anywhere near as good on the road as they do at home they would probably be in 1st place overall but unfortunately they don’t. Away from home the Wild are just 5-10 with a -0.65 goal differential but at home they have a 13-5 record with a +1.00 goal differential. The Wild have been playing pretty good of late especially on defense allowing just 1.80 goals per game over their last 10 games.
Minnesota Wild Trends
Wild are 5-1 in their last 6 home games.
Wild are 40-18 in their last 58 vs. a team with a losing record.
Pittsburgh Penguins (+140)
The Pittsburgh Penguins are 6th in the Metropolitan Division with 35 points 17 points out of 1st place. This has been a super disappointing season so far for the Penguins. On paper they should be one of the best teams in the entire NHL but instead they are actually one of the worst teams and in danger of missing the playoffs if they don’t turn things around fairly soon. The Penguins actually have the 3rd worst offense in the league with just 76 goals on the season which is kind of crazy considering you have guys like Crosby, Malkin, and Kessel on your team.
The Penguins are five points from a wild card spot and six points from last place: pic.twitter.com/rEAVRI8Ltm
— Seth Rorabaugh (@emptynetters) December 19, 2015
Pittsburgh Penguins Trends
Penguins are 0-5 in their last 5 vs. a team with a winning record.
Penguins are 2-6 in their last 8 road games.
Conclusion
I like the Minnesota Wild over the Penguins in this one today. I think the Penguins will eventually start scoring more goals and playing better but until that does start happen I’m going to have to keep fading them especially on the road versus a good home team like the Wild.
Free Pick: Minnesota Wild -150
