Thursday, March 2, 2017

Nationwide Arena

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The Minnesota Wild travel to Nationwide Arena to play the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday, March 2, 2017. The opening line for this game has the Wild at +111 and the Blue Jackets at -123. The over/under has been set at 5.5.

Minnesota comes into this matchup having played 60 games. They have an overall record of 40-14-6 and on the road they have a record of 18-6-5. Currently they are 1st in the Central Division. They've scored 203 goals and given up 142 goals for a point differential of +61. The Wild have an overall record of 7-2-1 in their last 10 games. For the season they have an ATS record of 37-20 and an over/under record of 31-21-8. Columbus shows up with a record of 39-16-5 including 22-9-1 at home this season. They are 3rd in the Metropolitan Division. They've scored 199 goals and surrendered 145 for a goal differential of +54. The Blue Jackets have a record of 6-4-0 in their last 10 contests. Their record against the spread is 37-21 while their over/under record sits at 26-30-4.

For expert handicapping advice on this game check out our NHL expert handicapper tips.

Eric Staal has accumulated 46 total points this season for the Wild. He has 17 goals this season with 147 shots on goal giving him a shooting percentage of 12%. He has a total of 29 assists on the season and averages 18.7 minutes played per game. Ryan Suter has averaged 27.2 minutes of ice time per game this year. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 7% by scoring 8 goals on 118 shots. He has 25 assists giving him a total of 33 points on the season. Devan Dubnyk has 33 wins and 11 losses this season in net for the Wild. He has had 1,415 shots against him and has given up 97 goals. He has made 1,318 saves for a save percentage of 93%.

Cam Atkinson has accumulated 53 total points this season for the Blue Jackets. He has 29 goals this season with 182 shots on goal giving him a shooting percentage of 16%. He has a total of 24 assists on the season and averages 18.1 minutes played per game. Zach Werenski has averaged 21.2 minutes of ice time per game. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 6% by scoring 9 goals on 148 shots. He has 28 assists giving him a total of 37 points on the season. Sergei Bobrovsky has 32 wins and 13 losses this season in net for the Blue Jackets. He has had 1,378 shots against him and has given up 103 goals. He has made 1,275 saves for a save percentage of 93%.

The Wild have 86 total points this season. They have scored 203 goals while giving up 142 goals. They have had 165 power play opportunities and have scored 37 goals on those chances for a percentage of 22%. The Wild have allowed 155 power play opportunities and given up 26 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 83%. They average 30 shots per game and as a team are shooting 11.22% for the season to this point. They allow 31 shots to their opposition per contest and have a team save percentage of 93%.

The Blue Jackets have a total of 83 points on the season. They have 37 power play goals on 166 opportunities thus far for a percentage of 22%. They have allowed 159 power play opportunities and have given up 28 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 82%. As a team, the Wild have a total of 199 goals scored while they've given up 145 goals to this point. They average 31 shots per contest and have a team shooting percentage of 10.72%. As a team they give up 30 shots per game and have a save percentage of 92%.

Minnesota has a Corsi percentage of 48.2% as they've attempted 3,293 shots on net at full strength while they've given up 3,538 shots on net in the same situations. Their Fenwick percentage is at 48.6% as they have 2,484 attempts while they've given up 2,624 shots on the defensive end. The Wild start possessions in the offensive zone 49.9% of the time while their defensive zone percentage is at 50.1% for the season. They have 1,882 face off wins compared to 1,752 losses, meaning their faceoff win percentage is 51.8%. On defense has 940 hits and they've blocked 914 shots from the opposition.

Columbus has attempted 3,360 shots at full strength and they've given up 3,387 attempts, meaning their Corsi percentage is at 49.8% for the season. In terms of Fenwick percentage, they currently are at 49.9% as they have 2,518 shots while they've given up 2,528 attempts on defense. The Blue Jackets have an offensive zone percentage of 49.4% and their defensive zone percentage is 50.6% so far this season. They have a faceoff win percentage of 48.1% as they've compiled 1,770 face off wins this season and they have suffered 1,907 face off losses. On defense has blocked 859 shot attempts and they have 1,149 hits as a unit.

Minnesota Wild Betting Trends

The Minnesota Wild are 37-20 straight up

The Minnesota Wild are 31-21-8 against the over/under

Columbus Blue Jackets Betting Trends

The Columbus Blue Jackets are 37-21 straight up

The Columbus Blue Jackets are 26-30-4 against the over/under

Minnesota Wild Injuries

10/10/16 D Victor Bartley Tricep out indefinitely
02/28/17 RW Jason Pominville Illness expected to miss next 2 games
02/28/17 LW Zach Parise Illness expected to miss next 2 games

Columbus Blue Jackets Injuries

10/10/16 RW David Clarkson Back out indefinitely
02/27/17 LW Matt Calvert Oblique "?" Tuesday vs. Montreal
02/24/17 LW Lukas Sedlak Lower Body out indefinitely
01/20/17 D Markus Nutivaara Lower Body out indefinitely

Tony's Pick: Take Columbus -123

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