The Montreal Canadiens (3-3-0) host the Minnesota Wild (1-3-1) at Bell Centre on Tuesday. Minnesota is coming off a 4-3 overtime loss against the Bruins on Saturday. The Wild committed five penalties in the game, conceding one power play goal.
Jared Spurgeon, Brandon Duhaime, and Matt Boldy each scored once for the Wild. Spurgeon added an assist to share the scoring lead with Mats Zuccarello, who had two assists. Marc-Andre Fleury only had 39 saves on 43 shots against (.906%) in the loss.
Montreal fell 5-2 to the Stars on Saturday. Arber Xhekaj and Mike Hoffman both scored once for the Canadiens. Xhekaj added an assist to lead the team in scoring. Jake Allen saved only 25 of 30 shots against (.833%) in the loss.
HEAD TO HEAD
The Wild won both games between the teams last season, including a 2-0 victory in their final meeting in April, their third straight win against Montreal. Kevin Fiala led Minnesota with two points (1G 1A). Cam Talbot saved 26 shots to earn the shutout win.
FACING OFF
Minnesota is averaging 3.80 goals per game so far this season, sixth in the NHL, and they are taking on a Canadiens team that is allowing 3.00 goals a game (12th). Meanwhile, Montreal has found the net 2.67 times a game on average, 26th in the league, and the Wild are allowing opponents to score a league-worst 5.40 goals per game.
Look for a few power play opportunities for the Canadiens, as the Wild are averaging 5.80 penalties per game, second-most in the NHL. The visitors’ 12.80 penalty minutes a game ranks third-highest. The home team has been penalized 3.67 times a game (27th) for an average of 8.33 minutes (26th).
The Wild’s 36.36% power play percentage is the second-best in the league, while the Canadiens rank 31st with a conversion rate of just 5.56%. In terms of defending power plays, Montreal has the league’s 11th-ranked PK% at 83.33%, while Minnesota is 20th at 75.00%.
TOP PERFORMERS:
With 10 points this season, fourth-most in the NHL, Zuccarello is the top skater for the Wild. He is among the league leaders in both goals and assists, finding the net four times (8th) and assisting six scores for this teammates (6th).
In the net, Filip Gustavsson (0-2-0) is Minnesota’s top goaltender by goals against average. He has a 5.05 GAA and a .860% save percentage. Fleury (1-1-1) leads the Wild in games played in goal. He has a GAA of 5.24 and a save percentage of .847%.Nick Suzuki leads the Canadiens in scoring with seven points.
He has three goals and four assists. Sam Montembeault (1-1-0) has the best goals against average for Montreal at 2.48. He has a save percentage of .912%. Allen (2-2-0) has played the most games in net for the Canadiens this season. He has a 2.77 GAA and a .913% save percentage.
HOME AND AWAY
Montreal is 3-1-0 at home this season.
SportsTips’ NHL Pick:
Minnesota Wild (-190)
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*Odds correct at time of publication, courtesy of BetMGM.
