The Minnesota Wild (22-14-4) travel to face the New York Islanders (22-17-3) at UBS Arena on Thursday in a matchup of teams on losing runs. Minnesota is coming off a 4-3 shootout loss against the Rangers on Tuesday, their third consecutive defeat.
The Wild committed four penalties in the game, though they held the Rangers without a power play goal. Kirill Kaprizov, Mats Zuccarello, and Jon Merrill each scored once for the Wild. Sam Steel had two assists to lead the team in scoring.
Marc-Andre Fleury saved an impressive 40 of 43 shots (.930%) in the loss. New York dropped their third in a row, falling 2-1 (SO) to the Stars on Tuesday. Anders Lee was the only player to score in regulation for the Islanders. Ilya Sorokin had a great performance with 25 saves (.961%) in the loss.
HEAD TO HEAD
The Wild won both games between the teams last season, including a 4-3 victory in their final meeting in January. Four players had two points for Minnesota. Brock Nelson, Oliver Wahlstrom, and Ross Johnston were on the scoresheet for New York. Kaapo Kahkonen got the win, saving 40 of 43 shots (.930%).
FACING OFF
Minnesota is averaging 3.15 goals per game for the season, 18th in the NHL, and they are taking on an Islanders team that is allowing 2.69 goals a game (6th). Meanwhile, New York has found the net 3.10 times a game on average, 20th in the league, and the Wild are allowing opponents to score 2.85 goals per game (12th).
Power play opportunities are likely to be plentiful for the Islanders, as the Wild are averaging 4.62 penalties per game, fourth-most in the NHL. The visitors’ 12.22 penalty minutes a game ranks second-highest. The home team has been penalized 3.64 times a game (24th) for an average of 8.98 minutes (15th).
The Wild’s 23.81% power play percentage ranks 13th in the league, while the Islanders are 27th with a conversion rate of 18.70%. When it comes to penalty killing, New York has the league’s 10th-ranked PK% at 81.60%, while Minnesota is 17th at 78.83%.
TOP PERFORMERS:
With 49 points this season, Kaprizov is the top skater for the Wild. He is among the league leaders with 24 goals (9th) and has added 25 assists. In the net, Filip Gustavsson (9-6-1) is Minnesota’s top goaltender by goals against average.
He has a 2.25 GAA, third-best in the league, and a .924% save percentage, fourth-best. Fleury (13-8-2) leads the Wild in games played in goal. He has a GAA of 2.94 and a save percentage of .901%.
Mathew Barzal and Nelson lead the Islanders in scoring with 41 and 39 points, respectively. Barzal has 11 goals and 30 assists, while Nelson has 15 goals and 24 assists. Sorokin (14-13-1) has the best goals against average for New York at 2.35. He has a save percentage of .924%, third-best in the league.
HOME AND AWAY
Minnesota is 10-6-3 away from Xcel Energy Center this season. New York is 12-6-1 at home this season.
SportsTips’ NHL Pick:
NY Islanders (-105)
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*Odds correct at time of publication, courtesy of BetMGM.
