A couple of teams currently on losing skids, the Minnesota Wild and the Vancouver Canucks face off at Rogers Arena. Sportsnet Pacific will showcase this Western Conference matchup, and the action gets underway at 10 p.m. ET on Tuesday, December 4.
Minnesota Wild at Vancouver Canucks Odds
With a moneyline of -165, Minnesota comes into the contest as the obvious favorite. The line for Vancouver now stands at +145, and oddsmakers have put the Over/Under (O/U) at an even 6 goals. If gamblers want to put some action on the matchup’s total, they’ll be looking at odds of -105 money on the over and -115 for the under.
Minnesota is 14-12 straight up (SU) and has lost 1.6 units for moneyline bettors this year. 13 of its outings have gone over the total, while 10 have gone under and just three have pushed. The Wild are 6-6 SU as a road team in 2018-19.
Minnesota has converted on 21.2 percent of its power play chances this year, a mark that’s right around league average. Additionally, it has the sixth-best penalty kill in the league, and it has successfully killed off 83.5 percent of its penalties.
Minnesota, as a collective unit, has been sent to the penalty box 4.0 times per game in the 2018-19 season, and 2.8 per game over its last five on the road. The team’s had to kill penalties just 6.7 minutes per game over their last 10 outings.
With a .909 save percentage and 27.1 saves per game, Devan Dubnyk (10-10-2) has been the primary option in goal for Minnesota this year. If head coach Bruce Boudreau chooses to rest him, however, the team may turn to Alex Stalock (5-2 record, .913 save percentage, 2.45 goals against average).
Mikael Granlund and Zach Parise will both lead the offensive attack for the visiting Wild. Granlund (26 points) has tallied 11 goals and 15 assists, and has recorded two or more points in five different games. Parise has 12 goals and 10 assists to his name (and has notched at least one point in 17 games).
On the other side of the ice, Vancouver is 11-18 straight up (SU) and has netted 0.8 units for moneyline bettors this year. Through 29 regular season contests, 15 of its games have gone over the total, while 14 have gone under and none have pushed. This season, the team’s 5-7 SU as the home team.
Vancouver has converted on 18.1 percent of its power play opportunities this season, a figure that’s right around league average. On the other hand, its penalty kill is ranked 24th overall, and it’s successfully killed off 76.9 percent of all opponent power plays.
The Canucks have been penalized 4.2 times per game this season, and 3.6 per game over their last five home outings. The team’s been forced to kill penalties 9.8 minutes per contest over their last five home games.
Jacob Markstrom has denied 29.1 shots per game as the top choice in the crease for Vancouver. Markstrom has eight wins, 12 losses, and three OT losses and has recorded a mediocre 3.31 goals against average and a fairly-weak .897 save percentage this year.
Bo Horvat (12 goals, 13 assists) will lead the offensive attack for the Canucks.
Minnesota Wild vs. Vancouver Canucks Betting Predictions
Prediction: SU Winner \u2013 Canucks, O/U \u2013 Over
Betting Trends
- The total has gone under in three of Vancouver’s last five outings.
- The Canucks are 3-7 when they serve fewer penalty minutes than their opponent and 5-10 in games where they serve fewer than 10 penalty minutes, in total.
- Vancouver is ranked 22nd in the league with 6.8 takeaways per game. That figure has trended down recently, however, as it has averaged 4.1 takeaways over its last 10 games and 4.6 takeaways over its last five.
- Minnesota has allowed 2.9 goals per game overall this year, but has allowed 4.3 goals per contest over its three-game losing skid.
- Minnesota skaters have averaged 4.2 takeaways per game over its last five road games, a drop-off from its season average of 6.6 takeaways per game (ranked 23rd in the league).
