A couple of franchises that split their season series 1-1 last year, the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Minnesota Wild clash at the Xcel Energy Center. This East-West matchup gets going at 8 p.m. ET on Tuesday, February 25, and it can be seen live on Fox Sports North.
Columbus Blue Jackets at Minnesota Wild Odds
Minnesota (-165) is currently favored over Columbus (+145), and the oddsmakers have set the Over/Under (O/U) at 6 goals (-120 to bet the under, +100 for the over).
Columbus is 31-33 straight up (SU) and has lost 1.0 unit for moneyline bettors this year. Through 64 regular season outings, 38 of its games have gone under the total, while 24 have gone over and just one has pushed. The Jackets are 12-18 SU on the road in 2019-20.
Columbus has converted on just 16.4 percent of its power play opportunities this year, a figure that places them in the bottom-10 overall among NHL teams. Additionally, its penalty kill is ranked 15th overall, and it has successfully killed off 81.5 percent of its penalties.
Columbus, as a collective unit, has been penalized just 2.9 times per game overall in the 2019-20 season, and 1.4 per game over its last five on the road. The team has been forced to kill penalties just 4.0 minutes per game over their last 10 outings.
Boasting a .914 save percentage and 25.4 saves per game, Joonas Korpisalo (18-15-5) has been the top option in goal for Columbus this season. Korpisalo played last night, however, so head coach John Tortorella might decide to rest him and roll with Elvis Merzlikins instead (13-19-9 record, .922 save percentage, 2.39 goals against average).
Pierre-Luc Dubois and Gustav Nyquist will both be relied on to produce for the visiting Blue Jackets. Dubois (45 points) has tallied 17 goals and 28 assists, and has recorded multiple points nine times. Nyquist has 12 goals and 26 assists to his name (and has registered a point in 29 games).
On the other bench, Minnesota is 29-32 straight up (SU) and has lost 3.0 units for moneyline bettors this year. Through 61 regular season outings, 29 of its games have gone over the total, while 27 have gone under and just five have pushed. It’s 17-15 SU at home this season.
Minnesota has converted on 21.1 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 28th overall, and it’s successfully killed off 75.8 percent of all penalties.
The Wild have been penalized 3.6 times per game this season, and 2.4 per game over their last five contests. The team’s been forced to kill penalties just 8.5 minutes per game over their last 10 outings.
Alex Stalock has stopped 25.2 shots per game as the primary selection in goal for Minnesota. Stalock has 16 wins, 15 losses, and four OT losses to his name and has registered a pedestrian 2.69 goals against average and a poor .908 save percentage this year.
The Wild will be led on offense by Eric Staal (17 goals, 25 assists).
Columbus Blue Jackets vs. Minnesota Wild Betting Predictions
Free NHL Tip: SU Winner – Wild, O/U – Over
Betting Notes
- Two of Minnesota’s last ten games have ended in a shootout. The team is 1-1 in those games and 2-3 overall in shootouts this season.
- For both of these teams, the total has gone over in three of their last five outings.
- 55.2 percent of Minnesota’s wins have come by two or more goals (the team is 16-19 overall in such games) while 38.7 percent of Columbus’ wins have come by two goals or more (12-12 overall in such games).
- Columbus skaters notched 23.0 hits per game last season, while the Wild posted 19.5 hits per contest.
