The Minnesota Wild (25-17-4) will be looking to end their losing run when they play host to the Philadelphia Flyers (20-21-8) at Xcel Energy Center on Thursday. Philadelphia is coming off a 4-3 overtime loss against the Kings on Tuesday. The Flyers committed eight penalties in the game, conceding one power play goal.
James van Riemsdyk, Rasmus Ristolainen, and Wade Allison each scored once for the Flyers. van Riemsdyk added an assist to share the scoring lead with Ivan Provorov, who had two assists. Carter Hart only had 34 saves on 38 shots against (.894%) in the loss.
Minnesota dropped their third straight game, falling 4-2 to the Lightning on Tuesday. Joel Eriksson Ek and Kirill Kaprizov each scored once for the Wild. Eriksson Ek added an assist to lead the team in scoring. Marc-Andre Fleury had 35 saves in the loss.
HEAD TO HEAD
The Wild won both games between the teams last season, including a 4-1 victory in their final meeting in March, their third straight win against Philadelphia. Eriksson Ek and Frederick Gaudreau each had two points (0G 2A) to lead Minnesota. Morgan Frost scored Philadelphia’s only goal. Fleury got the win, saving 32 of 33 shots (.969%).
FACING OFF
Philadelphia is averaging 2.78 goals per game for the season, 26th in the NHL, and they are taking on a Wild team that is allowing 2.87 goals a game (11th).
Meanwhile, Minnesota has found the net 3.09 times a game on average, 20th in the league, and the Flyers are allowing opponents to score 3.22 goals per game (18th).
Power play opportunities ought to be plentiful for the Flyers, as the Wild have been penalized 4.59 times a game, fifth-most in the NHL, for an average of 12.07 minutes (third-highest). The visitors are averaging 4.08 penalties (11th) and 10.55 penalty minutes a game (9th).The Wild’s 24.14% power play percentage ranks 10th in the league, while the Flyers are 27th with a conversion rate of 16.56%. In terms of penalty killing, Minnesota has the league’s 17th-ranked PK% at 79.11%, while Philadelphia is 19th at 77.08%.
TOP PERFORMERS:
With 49 points this season, Travis Konecny is the top skater for the Flyers. He has 24 goals and 25 assists in 43 games. In the net, Hart (14-14-6) is Philadelphia’s top goaltender. He has a 2.94 GAA and a .909% save percentage.Kaprizov leads the Wild in scoring with 57 points. He has 27 goals and 30 assists.
Filip Gustavsson (11-7-1) has the best goals against average for Minnesota at 2.26, fifth-best in the league. He has a save percentage of .922%, fourth-best. Fleury (14-9-3) has played the most games in net for the Wild this season. He has a 2.94 GAA and a .902% save percentage.
HOME AND AWAY
Philadelphia is 10-9-6 away from home this season. Minnesota is 13-8-1 at Xcel Energy Center this season.
SportsTips’ NHL Pick:
Minnesota Wild (-225)
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*Odds correct at time of publication, courtesy of BetMGM.
