Minnesota Wild at Nashville Predators NHL Picks & Predictions 12/30/2017

Saturday, December 30, 2017

Bridgestone Arena

Get todays NHL hockey odds on this game.

The Minnesota Wild travel to Bridgestone Arena to play the Nashville Predators on Saturday, December 30, 2017. The opening line for this game has the Wild at +127 and the Predators at -140.

Minnesota has a record of 19-15-3 this season and on the road they have a record of 8-11-1-1. They are 5th in the Central Division. They've scored 106 goals and given up 108 goals for a point differential of -2. For the season they have an ATS record of 19-18-0 and an over/under record of 19-16-0. Nashville is 22-9-5 including 11-4-2-2 at home this season. They are 1st in the Central Division. They've scored 118 goals and surrendered 100 for a goal differential of +18. Their record against the spread is 22-14-0 while their over/under record is 19-17-0.

Valuable Minnesota Wild Betting Trends

The Minnesota Wild are 19-18-0 straight up this year

The Minnesota Wild are 19-16-0 against the over/under this season

Important Nashville Predators Betting Trends

The Nashville Predators are 22-14-0 straight up this year

The Nashville Predators are 19-17-0 against the over/under this season

Key Minnesota Wild Injuries

12/28/17 RW Nino Niederreiter Lower Body is "?" Friday vs Nashville
12/14/17 GO Devan Dubnyk Lower Body is out indefinitely
10/24/17 LW Zach Parise Back IR (10/01)

Key Nashville Predators Injuries

10/02/17 D Ryan Ellis Knee IR (10/03)

Player Spotlight

Jason Zucker has accumulated 27 total points this season for the Wild. He has 15 goals this year with 86 shots on goal, giving him a shooting percentage of 17%. He has a total of 12 assists on the season and averages 17.4 minutes played per game. Eric Staal averages 18.4 minutes of ice time per game this year. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 14% by scoring 15 goals on 111 shots. He has 17 assists, giving him a total of 32 points on the season. Alex Stalock has 7 wins and 7 losses this season in net for the Wild. He has 482 shots against him and he's given up 41 goals. He's made 441 saves for a save percentage of 92%.

Player Spotlight

Viktor Arvidsson has scored 24 total points this year for the Predators. He has 11 goals this season with 118 shots on goal, giving him a shooting percentage of 9%. He has a total of 13 assists on the season and averages 18.3 minutes played per game. Filip Forsberg averages 18.2 minutes of ice time per game. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 16% by scoring 15 goals on 92 shots. He has 19 assists, giving him a total of 34 points on the season. Pekka Rinne has 19 wins and 6 losses this year in goal for the Predators. He has 885 shots against him and he's surrendered 67 goals. He's made 818 saves for a save percentage of 92%.

Useful Team Statistics

The Wild have 41 total points this season, which ranks them 17th in the NHL. They are 18th in the league in goals scored with 106 while they've given up 108 goals, ranking them 15th overall. They have had 112 power play opportunities and have scored 22 goals on those chances for a percentage of 20%. That is 13th in the NHL. The Wild have allowed 146 power play opportunities and have given up 23 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 84%, putting them 4th in the league when short-handed. They average 29 shots per game and as a team shoot 9.93% for the season. They allow 32 shots to their opposition per contest and have a team save percentage of 91%. That puts them 16th in the league in stopping the puck.

Useful Team Statistics

The Predators are 3rd in the NHL with a total of 49 points this year. They have 34 power play goals on 137 opportunities for a percentage of 25%. That ranks them 3rd in the league as a power play unit. They've allowed 152 power play opportunities and have given up 26 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 83%. That is 8th in the NHL. As a team, the Predators are 6th in the league with 118 goals scored while they've given up 100 goals, which is 25th overall. They average 30 shots per contest and have a team shooting percentage of 10.78%. As a team they give up 33 shots per game and have a save percentage of 92%. That is 3rd in the NHL.

Advanced Statistics

Minnesota has a Corsi percentage of 45.6% as they've tried 1,887 shots on goal while at full strength while they have surrendered 2,252 shots on net when they have a full team on the ice. That ranks them 31st in Corsi percentage. They are 29th in the NHL in Fenwick percentage with 47% as they have 1,464 shots while they've given up 1,651 attempts on defense. The Wild start possessions in the offensive zone 47.7% of the time while their defensive zone percentage is at 52.3% for the year. That puts them 26th and 5th in the league in zone percentages respectively. They have 1,123 face-off wins as opposed to 1,101 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 50.5%. That is 12th overall in the NHL. On defense Minnesota has 661 hits and they've blocked 601 attempts from opposing offenses, which is 2nd in the league.

Advanced Statistics

The Predators are 30th in the league in starting possessions in the offensive zone, doing so 45.7% of the time. Their defensive zone percentage is at 54.3% for the season, which is 3rd in the NHL. They have 1,209 face-off wins compared to 1,099 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 52.4%. That is 5th in the league. On defense Nashville has 755 hits and they have blocked 533 shots from the opposition, which is 19th in the league. Nashville is 19th in the NHL in Corsi percentage with 48.7% as they've attempted 2,044 shots on net at full strength while they've given up 2,150 shots on net in the same situations. Their Fenwick percentage of 48.8% ranks 20th as they have 1,540 attempts while they have given up 1,617 shots on the defensive end.

Who will win tonight's Wild/Predators NHL game against the spread?

Guy's Pick: Take Nashville -140

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