Minnesota Wild at New York Rangers NHL Picks & Predictions 2/23/2018

Friday, February 23, 2018

Madison Square Garden

Get todays NHL hockey odds on this game.

The Minnesota Wild head to Madison Square Garden to take on the New York Rangers on Friday, February 23, 2018. The opening line for this contest has the Wild at -145 and the Rangers at +131.

Minnesota has a record of 32-20-7 this year and away from home they have a record of 12-15-1-1. They are 5th in the Central Division. They have tallied 177 goals and surrendered 169 goals for a point differential of +8. For the year they have an ATS mark of 32-27-0 and an over/under record of 31-26-0. New York has a record of 27-28-5 including 18-11-3-2 on home ice this year. They are 8th in the Metropolitan Division. They've scored 173 goals and have given up 191 for a goal differential of -18. Their record against the spread is 27-33-0 while their over/under mark is 33-25-0.

Valuable Minnesota Wild Betting Trends

The Minnesota Wild are 32-27-0 straight up this year

The Minnesota Wild are 31-26-0 against the over/under this season

Important New York Rangers Betting Trends

The New York Rangers are 27-33-0 straight up this year

The New York Rangers are 33-25-0 against the over/under this season

Key Minnesota Wild Injuries

02/07/18 D Jonas Brodin Hand is out indefinitely

Key New York Rangers Injuries

12/28/17 LW Chris Kreider Blood Clot IR (12/27)
02/22/18 D Marc Staal Neck is upgraded to probable Thursday vs Montreal
02/18/18 D Ryan McDonagh Upper Body is "?" Thursday vs Montreal
02/15/18 D Steven Kampfer Hand IR (02/11)
02/10/18 GO Ondrej Pavelec Knee IR (02/08)
01/19/18 D Kevin Shattenkirk Knee IR (01/18)

Player Spotlight

Jason Zucker has scored 43 total points this year for the Wild. He has 25 goals this season with 151 shots on net, giving him a shooting percentage of 0%. He has a total of 18 assists on the year and averages 0 minutes played per contest. Eric Staal averages 18 minutes of ice time per game this season. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 17% by tallying 26 goals on 158 attempts. He has 27 assists, giving him a total of 53 points on the year. Devan Dubnyk has 24 wins and 11 losses this season in goal for the Wild. He has 1,278 shots against him and he's surrendered 104 goals. He's made 1,174 stops for a save percentage of 92%.

Player Spotlight

J.T. Miller has 38 total points this season for the Rangers. He has 12 goals this year with 89 shots on goal, giving him a shooting percentage of 14%. He has a total of 26 assists on the year and averages 16.6 minutes played per contest. Mats Zuccarello averages 0 minutes of ice time per contest. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 0% by scoring 10 goals on 130 attempts. He has 33 assists, giving him a total of 43 points on the year. Henrik Lundqvist has 23 wins and 21 losses this season in net for the Rangers. He has 1,609 shots against him and he's given up 138 goals. He's made 1,471 saves for a save percentage of 91%.

Useful Team Statistics

The Wild have 71 total points this year, which is 15th in the NHL. They've scored 177 goals while giving up 169 scores, which has them ranked 15th and 22nd respectively. They have had 177 power play chances and scored 37 goals on those opportunities for a percentage of 21%. That is 12th in the league. The Wild have given up 210 power play opportunities and surrendered 40 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 81%, ranking them 15th when short-handed. They average 30 shots per contest and as a team shoot 10.00% for the year. They allow 32 shot attempts to their opposition per game and have a team save percentage of 91%, which is 9th in the league.

Useful Team Statistics

The Rangers are 23rd in the league with a total of 59 points this season. They have 38 power play goals on 183 chances for a percentage of 21%. That is 13th in the NHL. They've given up 187 power play opportunities and surrendered 33 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 82%, ranking 7th overall. As a team, the Rangers are 18th with a total of 173 goals scored while they've given up 191 goals this season, ranking 7th in goals against. They average 32 shots per game and have a team shooting percentage of 9.11%. As a unit they give up 34 shots per contest and have a save percentage of 91%, putting them 17th overall in the NHL.

Advanced Statistics

Minnesota has a Corsi percentage of 46% as they've tried 3,079 shots on goal while at full strength while they have surrendered 3,617 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 2,371 shots while they've given up 2,671 attempts on defense. The Wild start possessions in the offensive zone 48% of the time while their defensive zone percentage is at 52% for the year. That puts them 28th and 6th in the league in zone percentages respectively. They have 1,776 face-off wins as opposed to 1,759 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 50.2%. That is 15th overall in the NHL. On defense Minnesota has 1,007 hits and they've blocked 946 attempts from opposing offenses, which is 6th in the league.

Advanced Statistics

The Rangers are 12th in the league in starting possessions in the offensive zone, doing so 52% of the time. Their defensive zone percentage is at 48% for the season, which is 22nd in the NHL. They have 1,764 face-off wins compared to 1,743 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 50.3%. That is 16th in the league. On defense New York has 1,290 hits and they have blocked 920 shots from the opposition, which is 10th in the league. New York is 24th in the NHL in Corsi percentage with 47.5% as they've attempted 3,322 shots on net at full strength while they've given up 3,675 shots on net in the same situations. Their Fenwick percentage of 48.1% ranks 23rd as they have 2,550 attempts while they have given up 2,755 shots on the defensive end.

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

Guy's Pick: Take Minnesota -145

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