The Minnesota Wild (4-4-1) play host to the Montreal Canadiens (5-4-0) at Xcel Energy Center on Tuesday. Montreal is coming off a high-scoring 7-4 win over the Blues on Saturday. The Canadiens took advantage of their power play opportunities, scoring twice on three shots, while also conceding a power play goal.
Christian Dvorak was the top goalscorer for the Canadiens with a hat trick in regulation. Jake Allen allowed four goals on 30 shots against (.866%) in the win. Minnesota beat the Blackhawks 4-3 (SO) on Sunday. Matt Boldy was the leading goal scorer for the Wild, netting twice. Marc-Andre Fleury surrendered three goals on 26 shots (.884%).
HEAD TO HEAD
The Wild won the first meeting between the teams this season, a 3-1 victory in October, their fourth straight win against Montreal. Joel Eriksson Ek (2G 0A) and Brandon Duhaime (1G 1A) each had two points to lead Minnesota. Cole Caufield scored Montreal’s only goal. Fleury got the win, saving 26 of 27 shots (.962%).
FACING OFF
Montreal is averaging 3.00 goals per game so far this season, 23rd in the NHL, and they are taking on a Wild team that is allowing 3.89 goals a game (27th). Meanwhile, Minnesota has found the net 3.33 times a game on average, 11th in the league, and the Canadiens are allowing opponents to score 3.00 goals per game (12th).
Look for multiple power play opportunities for the Canadiens, as the Wild have been penalized 5.33 times a game, third-most in the NHL, for an average of 12.56 minutes (third-highest). The visitors are averaging 3.78 penalties (23rd) and 8.22 penalty minutes a game (22nd).
The Wild’s 28.12% power play percentage is the fifth-best in the league, while the Canadiens rank 27th with a conversion rate of 11.11%. When it comes to penalty killing, Montreal has the league’s ninth-ranked PK% at 81.48%, while Minnesota is 24th at 76.67%.
TOP PERFORMERS:
With 10 points apiece this season, Caufield (7G 3A) and Nick Suzuki (4G 6A) are the top skaters for the Canadiens. Caufield is among the league leaders in goals (2nd). In the net, Sam Montembeault (2-1-0) is Montreal’s top goaltender by goals against average.
He has a 2.32 GAA and a .931% save percentage. Allen (3-3-0) leads the Canadiens in games played in goal. He has a GAA of 2.86 and a save percentage of .909%.Mats Zuccarello and Kirill Kaprizov lead the Wild in scoring with 12 and 11 points, respectively. Zuccarello ranks ninth in the league in points scored on the season.
He has five goals and seven assists in nine games, while Kaprizov has six goals (8th) and five assists () in nine games. Fleury (4-1-1) has the best goals against average for Minnesota at 3.69. He has a save percentage of .880%.
HOME AND AWAY
Montreal is 2-2-0 away from Bell Centre this season. Minnesota is 1-3-0 at home this season.
SportsTips’ NHL Pick:
Minnesota Wild (-250)
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*Odds correct at time of publication, courtesy of BetMGM.
