Vegas Golden Knights vs Minnesota Wild Predictions, Hockey Picks 3/12/2020

Game: Vegas Golden Knights vs Minnesota Wild

Date: Thursday, March 12, 2020

Location: Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, MN

TV: FSN/ATRM

Odds/Point Spread: Golden Knights (-130) Wild (+118)

Total/Over-Under: 6

Alex Stalock and the Minnesota Wild (35-27-7, 6th in the Central Division) host the Vegas Golden Knights (39-24-8, 1st in the Pacific Division) at Xcel Energy Center on Thursday, March 12, 2020. The Wild open this contest at +118 while the Golden Knights are priced at -130. The over/under has been set at 6. The Golden Knights are covering 52.9% of the time, having gone 36-32 SU. Minnesota is covering 49.3% of the time, going 33-34 straight up.

The Vegas Golden Knights step onto the ice with a record of 39 wins and 24 defeats, which is good for 1st in the Pacific Division. During the season thus far, they have racked up a total of 224 goals which is good for 2nd in the conference and 9th in the league. Their goal differential is +15, which is good for 10th in the league. The Golden Knights have compiled a total of 86 points, which is good for 8th in the league and 3rd in the conference. With reference to shots at the opposition, they have compiled a total of 2,450 which is good for 1st in the Western Conference and 1st in the league. As a unit, Vegas has collected a total of 1,810 hits which has them averaging 25.5 per game. They have compiled a total of 781 blocks for the season. The man protecting the goal for Vegas is Marc-Andre Fleury from Sorel, Quebec. He is 35 years old and has racked up 2,880 minutes protecting the goal this season. Fleury is allowing an average of 2.77 goals per contest which has him sitting 16th among Western Conference goaltenders and 32nd in the NHL. So far this year, he has given up 133 goals. He's earned a save percentage of .905 which has him sitting 23rd among Western Conference goaltenders.

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The Vegas Golden Knights were on the winning side of the scoreboard with a 3 - 2 win against the Edmonton Oilers in their previous game. The Golden Knights had a middle of the road offensive outing in the win. For this game, they scored on 3 of the 48 shots they tried. Furthermore, they had 2 power play opportunities and scored 1 goal out of those tries. Vegas ended up with a total of 2 penalty minutes for this game. The Corsi for the Golden Knights sat at 66 and the Corsi against was 50 which means they had a Corsi percentage of 56.9%. Their Fenwick sat at 51 while the Fenwick against sat at 35, telling us they have a rate of 59.3%. They took 27 face-off wins at even strength and were beaten on 31 of all total face-offs. Their starts in the offensive zone came in at 57.9% and they had a PDO at even strength of 96.4 for this matchup. In terms of their opponent's stats, the Edmonton Oilers racked up a total of 24 shots. They had 4 penalty minutes and they had 1 power play opportunity.

The Wild will be looking to get a victory in this matchup and for the year they sit with 35 wins and 27 defeats. In terms of goal differential, they are currently sitting 9th in the Western Conference and 18th in the NHL with +1. They have compiled a total of 218 goals for the season which ranks 6th in the conference. Minnesota has a save percentage as a team of .897 which currently has them ranked 29th in the NHL, which means scoring chances could be plentiful if they attack the goal. They have a team shooting percentage of 10.5% ranking them 2nd in the West. In goal for Minnesota is Alex Stalock who is having a marginal year by allowing 2.67 goals per contest and that has him ranked 12th among Western Conference goaltenders and 24th among goalies in the NHL. In the 2,177 mins he's been on the ice, he's surrendered 97 goals. His save % is .910, which has him ranked 19th among Western Conference goaltenders and 35th among goalies in the NHL.

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The Minnesota Wild faced the Anaheim Ducks in an outing where the Wild notched a win by a tally of 5 - 4. In this game, Minnesota wound up with a 40.0% Corsi rating. That percentage was had by having a Corsi of 38 and their opponent having a Corsi of 57. They had a Fenwick percentage of 40.8% by notching a Fenwick of 29 and the Ducks ending the game with a 42 Fenwick. These Corsi statistics are telling of the type of game that Minnesota had and it was an excellent showing for this outing. Their PDO was 94.9 and they finished this one with an oZS percentage of 45.4%. The Wild netted 5 goals of the 30 shots on goal they pursued. They had 3 power play chances in this one and were able to convert 2 out of those opportunities. Concerning their opponent, the Ducks had 4 power play opportunities but were not able to score a goal. Minnesota conceded 26 shots on goal and the Ducks ended up with 11 minutes in the box.

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

Guy's Pick: Take Vegas (-130)

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