Little Caesars Arena will be hosting an enticing matchup as the Detroit Red Wings take the ice against the visiting Minnesota Wild. It’s the last time that the two clubs will go at it in the regular season. This East-West matchup gets underway at 7:30 p.m. ET on Thursday, February 27, and it is being shown live on Fox Sports Detroit.
Minnesota Wild vs. Detroit Red Wings Odds
Minnesota (-200) is tabbed as the favorite over Detroit (+170) and oddsmakers have set the Over/Under (O/U) at 6 goals. If you want to play the game’s total, you’ll be looking at odds of -110 money on the over and -110 for the under.
Minnesota is 30-32 straight up (SU) and has lost 2.0 units for moneyline bettors this year. Through 62 regular season outings, 30 of its games have gone over the total, while 27 have gone under and just five have pushed. The Wild are 12-17 SU as an away team in 2019-20.
Minnesota has converted on 20.9 percent of its power play chances this year, a figure that’s right around league average. Additionally, its penalty kill is ranked 27th overall, and it’s successfully killed off only 76.1 percent of its penalties.
For the team as a whole, Minnesota has been sent to the penalty box 3.5 times per game overall this season, and 2.2 per game over its past five contests. The team’s been forced to kill penalties just 8.3 minutes per game over their last 10 outings.
With a .907 save percentage and 25.2 saves per game, Alex Stalock (17-15-4) has been the primary option in goal for Minnesota this year. If Minnesota chooses to rest him, however, the team might turn to Devan Dubnyk (11-18-2 record, .892 save percentage, 3.34 goals against average).
Eric Staal and Ryan Suter will both lead the way for the visiting Wild. Staal has 44 points on 18 goals and 26 assists, and has recorded two or more points in eight different games. Suter has seven goals and 35 assists to his name, and has logged at least one point in 30 games.
On the other bench, Detroit is 15-50 straight up (SU) and has lost 24.6 units for moneyline bettors this year. Through 65 regular season matches, 32 of its games have gone under the total, while 25 have gone over and just eight have pushed. It’s 10-22 SU at home this season.
Detroit has converted on just 14.8 percent of its power play opportunities this season, a figure that’s ranked 30th in the NHL. On the other hand, its penalty kill is ranked 31st overall, and it’s successfully killed off 74.5 percent of all penalties.
The Red Wings have been penalized 3.6 times per game this season, 3.6 per game over their last five match ups total, and 3.4 per game over their last five home outings. The team has had to stave off opponent power plays 8.5 minutes per game over their last 10 outings.
Jonathan Bernier (26.6 saves per game) has been the top choice in the crease for Detroit. Bernier has 13 wins, 27 losses, and two OT losses to his name and has recorded a pedestrian 2.93 goals against average and a poor .907 save percentage this season.
The home team offense will be led by Dylan Larkin (17 goals, 29 assists).
Minnesota Wild vs. Detroit Red Wings Free Picks
Free NHL Pick: SU Winner – Red Wings, O/U – Under
Betting Trends
- The total has gone over in three of Minnesota’s last five games.
- The Red Wings are 6-15 when they serve fewer penalty minutes than their opponent and 10-35 in games where they’re in the penalty box for fewer than 10 minutes, total.
- Two of Minnesota’s past 10 outings have been decided by a shootout. The team is 1-1 in those games and 2-3 overall in shootouts this season.
- Detroit skaters have managed 3.8 takeaways per game over its last five home games, a slight drop from its season average of 4.4 takeaways per game (ranked 32nd in the league).
- Minnesota is ranked 24th in the league with 6.6 takeaways per game. That figure has trended down recently, however, as the team has managed 5.5 takeaways over its last 10 games and 5.0 takeaways over its last five.
