Wild vs Flames Predictions, Picks, Tips 1/9/2020

Game: Minnesota Wild vs Calgary Flames

Date: Thursday, January 9, 2020

Location: Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, AB

TV: RSNF/FSN+

Odds/Point Spread: Wild (+144) Flames (-160)

Total/Over-Under: 6

David Rittich and the Calgary Flames (23-17-5, 3rd in the Pacific Division) host the Minnesota Wild (20-17-6, 5th in the Central Division) at Scotiabank Saddledome on Thursday, January 9, 2020. The Wild open this game at +144 while the Flames are priced at -160. The O/U has been set at 6. The Wild are covering 45.2% of the time, having gone 19-23 SU. Calgary is covering 46.3% of the time, going 19-22 straight up.

The Minnesota Wild head into this game holding a record of 20 victories and 17 defeats, which puts them at 5th in the Central Division. Thus far in the season, they have converted a total of 132 goals which has them sitting at 7th in the Western Conference and 17th in the league. Their goal differential is -10, which puts them at 23rd in the league. The Wild currently have a total of 46 points, which has them sitting at 20th in the league and 10th in the Western Conference. Regarding shots on goal, they currently have a total of 1,256 which has them sitting at 15th in the Western Conference and 28th in the league. As a group, Minnesota has collected a total of 662 hits which has them averaging 15.4 per game. They currently have a total of 511 blocks for the year. The goaltender for Minnesota is Alex Stalock from St. Paul, Minnesota. He is 32 years old and has totaled 1,158 minutes in goal for the season. Stalock is conceding an average of 3.06 goals against average which has him ranked 25th in the West and 45th in the NHL among goalies. Over the course of this year, he's allowed 59 goals. He holds a save % of .901 which has him ranked 24th in the West.

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The Minnesota Wild will need a bounce back game after taking a 5 - 4 defeat to the Calgary Flames in their previous contest. The Wild had a good offensive performance and it was apparent in this loss. In this game, they converted 4 out of the 34 shots they looked to score on. In addition, they had 2 power play chances and were able to score 1 goal out of those chances. Minnesota earned a total of 8 penalty minutes for this game. The Corsi for the Wild sat at 55 and the Corsi against at even strength was 68 which gave them a Corsi percentage of 44.7%. Their Fenwick was 38 while the Fenwick against was 51, meaning they had a rate of 42.7%. They earned 27 face-off wins and were beaten on 25 of all total face-offs. Their starts in the offensive zone came in at 48.4% and they had a PDO at even strength of 104.5 for this matchup. Regarding their opponent, the Calgary Flames tallied a total of 37 shots. They finished with a total of 4 penalty mins and they earned 4 power play attempts.

The Flames will be the team on the other side of the ice and for the season they sit with 23 wins and 17 losses. In terms of goal differential, they are ranked 12th in the conference and 25th in the NHL with -14. They have a total of 121 goals for the year which is 11th in the Western Conference. Calgary has a team save % of .907 which has them 11th in the NHL, which tells us scoring chances could be there if they are opportunistic. They have a shooting percentage of 8.7% putting them at 13th in the Western Conference. In goal for Calgary is David Rittich who is having an average year by allowing 2.81 GAA and that places him 11th among Western Conference goaltenders and 24th in the NHL among goaltenders. In the 1,945 mins he's been on the ice, he has given up 91 goals. He has a save percentage of .911, which places him at 16th among Western Conference goaltenders and 27th in the NHL among goaltenders.

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The Calgary Flames faced the Chicago Blackhawks in an outing where the Flames earned a win by a tally of 2 - 1. In this outing, Calgary went home with a 51.5% Corsi rating. They got there by having a Corsi of 50 while the opposition earned a Corsi of 47. Their Fenwick percentage was 49.3% by way of having a Fenwick of 35 and the Blackhawks finishing with a 36 Fenwick at even strength. These Corsi statistics are telling of the type of game that Calgary played and you can safely assume that they'll look to improve in their next outing. They had a PDO of 105.2 and they'll go home having earned an oZS percentage of 34.6%. The Flames notched 2 goals out of the 28 shots on goal they pursued. They had 4 power play opportunities in this one but weren't able to score a goal. Concerning their opponent, the Blackhawks had 2 power play attempts but were not able to score a goal. Calgary conceded 32 shots on goal and the Blackhawks had 8 penalty minutes.

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

Josh's Pick: Take Minnesota (+144)

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