The Utah Hockey Club and the Minnesota Wild meet Friday in NHL action from the Xcel Energy Center. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for this game. Here’s a Minnesota Wild vs Utah Hockey Club Prediction.
Utah Hockey Club Recap
The Utah Hockey Club come into this game looking to build on a 3-2 win over Vancouver last time out. After this game, Utah will head home for a matchup with Anaheim.
Utah Wins Third Straight
Dylan Guenther leads Utah in scoring with 30 points including a team-high 14 goals and 16 assists while Clayton Keller has 30 points with 11 goals and 19 assists. Logan Cooley has 28 points with 7 goals and 21 assists of his own while Nick Schmaltz has 20 assists. Mikhail Sergachev has 23 points with 15 assists while Michael Kesselring has 15 points with 4 goals and 11 assists. Connor Ingram has gone 6-4-3 with a 3.61 GAA and an .871 save percentage while Karel Vejmelka has gone 7-7-2 with a 2.37 GAA and a .915 save percentage in goal for Utah this season. Jaxson Stauber has gone 2-0 with a 1.00 GAA and a .962 save percentage this season as well for Utah.
Why the Utah Hockey Club will win
- Utah has won each of its last four games as a road underdog.
- The Wild have lost four of their last five night games.
- The underdog has covered the puck line in each of Utah’s last 11 games.
- The Wild have failed to cover the puck line in each of their last six games as home favorites against Western Conference opponents.
Minnesota Wild Recap
The Minnesota Wild come into this game looking to bounce back after a 6-1 loss to Florida last time out. After this game, Minnesota will head on the road again to take on Winnipeg.
Wild Drop Back-To-Back Games
Kirill Kaprizov leads the Wild with 48 points including a team-high 22 goals and 26 assists while Matt Boldy has 30 points including 13 goals and 17 assists. Marco Rossi has 26 points with 12 goals and 14 assists while Mats Zuccarello has 17 points with 6 goals and 11 assists. Brock Faber also has 17 points with 14 assists of his own this season. Filip Gustavsson has gone 14-5-3 with a 2.24 GAA and a .922 save percentage in goal for Minnesota while Marc-Andre Fleury is 6-2-1 with a 2.88 GAA and an .898 save percentage on the year. Jesper Wallstedt is 0-1 with a 3.12 GAA and a .889 save percentage this season.
Why the Minnesota Wild will win
- The Wild have won each of their last 12 games as favorites following a loss.
- Utah has lost each of its last three games following a home win.
- The Wild have covered the puck line in 12 of their last 13 Friday night games.
- Utah has failed to cover the puck line in each of its last three games following a win.
Minnesota Wild vs Utah Hockey Club Prediction
I’m with Utah here. The Hockey Club are playing some of their best hockey of the season right now, and while Minnesota’s been one of the league’s best this season, the Wild have been better on the road and are just in a bit of a funk right now. I think all of the value here is on Utah so give me the plus money with the Hockey Club.