The Minnesota Wild and the Montreal Canadiens meet in NHL action from the Bell Centre on Tuesday night.
Wild Fall To Toronto
The Minnesota Wild come into this game licking their wounds after ending up on the wrong side of a 7-4 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs in their last matchup to drop to 1-0-1 on the year. Mats Zuccarello and Kirill Kaprizov each have 2 assists while Joel Eriksson Ek, Matt Boldy and Brock Faber each have a goal and an assist, with Faber posting a team-best +4 plus/minus rating up to this point in the season. Filip Gustavsson has started both games so far for the Wild this season in goal, posting a 1-1 record with a 3.50 GAA and a .905 save percentage this season.
Minnesota Wild Team Facts
- The Wild have won each of their last 12 games as favorites against the Canadiens.
- The Wild have covered the puck line in eight of their last nine games as favorites against the Canadiens.
- The ‘Over 1.5 Goals Period 2’ market has hit in seven of the Wild’s last eight games as favorites against the Canadiens.
- The Wild have won the third period in six of their last seven night games at Bell Centre.
Minnesota Wild Player Prop Facts
- Joel Eriksson Ek has scored a goal in each of the Wild’s last four games as favorites against Atlantic Division opponents.
- Marcus Johansson has recorded at least one point in seven of his last eight appearances against the Canadiens.
- Marcus Johansson has recorded at least one assist in seven of his last eight appearances against the Canadiens.
- Brock Faber ranks T1st in the league for Game Winning Goals (1) this season.
Canadiens Take Down Blackhawks
The Montreal Canadiens come into this game on the heels of a 3-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks to improve to 1-1 on the year. Cole Caufield and Alex Newhook each have a pair of goals so far while Rafael Harvey-Pinard and Kirby Dach each have a pair of assists. Sean Monahan also has a goal and an apple, while Johnathan Kovacevic has a team-leading +5 plus/minus rating up to this point in the year. Jake Allen is 0-0-1 in goal for Montreal with a 4.62 GAA and an .881 save percentage while Sam Montembault is 1-0 with a 2.00 GAA and a .933 save percentage this season.
Montreal Canadiens Team Facts
- The Canadiens have won three of their last four games as underdogs against Central Division opponents.
- The favorites have covered the puck line in each of the last four games between the Wild and Canadiens.
- The ‘Over 1.5 Goals Period 2′ market has hit in each of the Canadiens’ last 18 games.
- The Canadiens have lost the first period in each of their last four games as home underdogs.
Montreal Canadiens Player Prop Facts
- Cole Caufield has scored at least one goal in four of his last five appearances against Central Division opponents.
- Kirby Dach has recorded at least one point in each of his last six appearances with the Canadiens as home underdogs.
- Christian Dvorak has recorded at least one assist in four of his last five appearances against Central Division opponents.
- Sean Monahan ranks T1st in the league for Game Winning Goals (1) this season.
Matchup/League Facts
- The Montreal Canadiens ranks T7th in the league for goals per game this season (4.00).
- The Montreal Canadiens ranks T1st in the league in short handed goals allowed this season (0).
- The Minnesota Wild ranks T1st in the league in short handed goals allowed this season (0).
- The Minnesota Wild were one of only two teams to sweep the Panthers this season.
Chris’ Pick
I’m sticking with Minnesota here. A lot of teams are going to get scored on by Toronto, both teams in this matchup already have. That being said, I trust Minnesota to work out the kinks a lot more than I do Montreal here, as I just simply don’t view Jake Allen as a #1 goaltender in the NHL and Sam Montembault is not the answer either. The Wild have also owned this matchup winning 16 of the last 21 meetings and 6 of the last 7 in Montreal so give me the Wild here.
