Vegas Golden Knights at Minnesota Wild NHL Picks & Predictions 10/6/2018Vegas Golden Knights at Minnesota Wild NHL Picks & Predictions 10/6/2018

Saturday, October 6, 2018

Xcel Energy Center

Get todays NHL hockey odds on this game.

The Vegas Golden Knights head to Xcel Energy Center to take on the Minnesota Wild on Saturday, October 6, 2018. The opening line for this contest has the Golden Knights at -107 and the Wild at -121.

Vegas had a record of 51-24-7 last year and away from home they had a record of 22-14-5-2. They were 1st in the Pacific Division. They tallied 272 goals and surrendered 228 goals for a point differential of +44. For the year they had an ATS mark of 64-37-0 and an over/under record of 49-48-0. Minnesota finished with a record of 45-26-11 including 13-12-1-1 on home ice last year. They were 3rd in the Central Division. They scored 253 goals and gave up 232 for a goal differential of +21. Their record against the spread was 46-41-0 while their over/under mark was 42-41-0.

Valuable Vegas Golden Knights Betting Trends

The Vegas Golden Knights were 64-37-0 straight up last year

The Vegas Golden Knights were 49-48-0 against the over/under last season

Important Minnesota Wild Betting Trends

The Minnesota Wild were 46-41-0 straight up last year

The Minnesota Wild were 42-41-0 against the over/under last season

Key Vegas Golden Knights Injuries

10/03/18 RW Alex Tuch Upper Body is out indefinitely
10/01/18 C Cody Eakin Lower Body is out indefinitely
09/02/18 D Nate Schmidt Suspension 20-game suspension (eligible to return 11/18 vs Edmonton)

Key Minnesota Wild Injuries

10/04/18 C Luke Kunin Knee is out indefinitely

Player Spotlight

Reilly Smith scored 60 total points last year for the Golden Knights. He had 22 goals last season with 162 shots on net giving him a shooting percentage of 14%. He had a total of 38 assists on the year and averaged 17.9 minutes played per contest. David Perron averaged 17.8 minutes of ice time per game last season. In that time he had a shooting percentage of 13% by tallying 16 goals on 125 attempts. He had 50 assists giving him a total of 66 points on the year. Marc-Andre Fleury had 29 wins and 13 losses last season in goal for the Golden Knights. He had 1,376 shots against him and he surrendered 100 goals. He made 1,276 stops for a save percentage of 93%.

Player Spotlight

Eric Staal had 76 total points last season for the Wild. He had 42 goals last year with 241 shots on goal giving him a shooting percentage of 17%. He had a total of 34 assists on the year and averaged 17.8 minutes played per contest. Mikael Granlund averaged 18.8 minutes of ice time per contest. In that time he had a shooting percentage of 11% by scoring 21 goals on 193 attempts. He had 46 assists giving him a total of 67 points on the year. Devan Dubnyk had 35 wins and 16 losses last season in net for the Wild. He had 1,769 shots against him and he gave up 145 goals. He made 1,624 saves for a save percentage of 92%.

Useful Team Statistics

The Golden Knights had 109 total points last year, which was 5th in the NHL. They scored 272 goals while giving up 228 scores, which had them ranked 5th and 24th respectively. They had 248 power play chances and scored 53 goals on those opportunities for a percentage of 21%. That was 11th in the league. The Golden Knights gave up 237 power play opportunities and surrendered 44 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 81%, ranking them 10th when short-handed. They averaged 33 shots per contest and as a team shot 10.13% for the year. They allowed 31 shot attempts to their opposition per game and had a team save percentage of 91%, which was 12th in the league.

Useful Team Statistics

The Wild were 8th in the league with a total of 101 points last season. They had 49 power play goals on 240 chances for a percentage of 20%. That was 17th in the NHL. They gave up 272 power play opportunities and surrendered 51 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 81%, ranking 13th overall. As a team, the Wild were 11th with a total of 253 goals scored while they gave up 232 goals last season, ranking 21st in goals against. They averaged 30 shots per game and had a team shooting percentage of 10.22%. As a unit they gave up 31 shots per contest and had a save percentage of 91%, putting them 11th overall in the NHL.

Advanced Statistics

Vegas was 6th in the NHL in Corsi percentage last year with 51.6%, as they attempted 4,991 shots on net at full strength while they gave up 4,690 shots on net in the same situations. Their Fenwick percentage was 51.5% as they had 3,733 attempts while they gave up 3,511 shots on the defensive end. That ranked them 8th in the league. The Golden Knights started possessions in the offensive zone 53.1% of the time, which was 5th in the league, while their defensive zone percentage was at 46.9% for the season. That was 27th overall in the NHL. They had 2,439 face-off wins compared to 2,548 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage was 48.9%. That ranked them 24th in the league. On defense Vegas had 1,767 hits and they blocked 1,179 shots from the opposition, putting them 21st overall.

Advanced Statistics

Minnesota was 30th in the league in Corsi percentage last season with 46.9%, as they tried 4,358 shots on net at full strength while giving up 4,928 shots on net in the same situations. Their Fenwick percentage was 47.9% as they had 3,342 attempts while they gave up 3,633 shots on the defensive end. That ranked them 25th in the NHL. The Wild started possessions in the offensive zone 48.5% of the time, which was 26th in the league, while their defensive zone percentage was at 51.5% for the season. That was 6th overall in the NHL. They had 2,415 face-off wins compared to 2,434 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage was 49.8%. That ranked them 16th in the league. On defense Minnesota had 1,367 hits and they blocked 1,295 shots from the opposition, putting them 5th overall.

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

Guy's Pick: Take Vegas -107

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