Minnesota Wild (20-17-6) at Calgary Flames (23-17-5)
NHL Hockey: Thursday, January 9, 2020 at 9:00 pm (Scotiabank Saddledome)
The Line: Calgary Flames -160 / Minnesota Wild +144 --- Over/Under: 6 Click Here for the Latest Odds
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The Minnesota Wild and Calgary Flames meet Thursday in NHL action at the Scotiabank Saddledome.
The Minnesota Wild look for a win after splitting their last eight games. The Minnesota Wild are averaging 3.1 goals per game and are scoring on 18.4 percent of their power play opportunities. Eric Staal leads Minnesota with 16 goals, Ryan Suter has 24 assists and Zach Parise has 96 shots on goal. Defensively, the Minnesota Wild are allowing 3.3 goals per game and are killing 76.2 percent of their opponents power plays. Devan Dubnyk has given up 59 goals on 578 shots faced and Alex Stalock has allowed 59 goals on 593 shots. The Minnesota Wild have allowed three or more goals in eight of their last 10 games.
The Calgary Flames look for a win after winning five of their last eight games. The Calgary Flames are averaging 2.7 goals per game and are scoring on 19.1 percent of their power play opportunities. Elias Lindholm leads Calgary with 16 goals, Johnny Gaudreau has 24 assists and Sean Monahan has 113 shots on goal. Defensively, the Calgary Flames are allowing three goals per game and are killing 82.3 percent of their opponents power plays. David Rittich has given up 91 goals on 1,028 shots faced and Cam Talbot has allowed 33 goals on 379 shots. The Calgary Flames have allowed three or more goals in eight of their last 11 games.
The Wild are 5-0 in their last 5 Thursday games and 2-5 in their last 7 games as an underdog. The Flames are 8-3 in their last 11 games following a win, 7-3 in their last 10 vs. Western Conference and 1-5 in their last 6 home games. The over is 5-1 in Wild last 6 road games. The over is 4-0 in Flames last 4 home games. The under is 15-6-6 in the last 27 meetings in Calgary and 5-1-2 in the last 8 meetings.
The Calgary Flames have won four of the last six meetings against the Wild, and they seem due for a breakout home victory given that a lot of their recent success has come on the road. The Minnesota Wild have been hit or miss these past two weeks and the defensive troubles seem to be a big reason for it. I'll side with the Calgary Flames on their home ice and the somewhat decent price.
Randy’s Pick Calgary Flames -160
AUTHOR: Randy Chambers
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