Not looking like the Minnesota Wild nor Detroit Red Wings will be playing postseason hockey this season unless one or both goes on a crazy hot streak starting right now. The teams close out their season series in Motown on Friday night with the Wings likely as slight NHL betting odds favorites because the Wild will be playing the second of a back-to-back.
How to Bet Wild vs Red Wings NHL Week 21 Odds & Game Info
“I thought we played really well. Duby played really well, made some really big saves at the important times, and we got a power-play goal..things that had been not so great for us lately, we were able to fix, at least for tonight.” — Zach Parise
More from the locker room 👇 pic.twitter.com/6rWlsngRjV — Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) 22 de febrero de 2019
- When: Friday, 7:30 PM ET
- Where: Little Caesars Arena
- TV: NHL Center Ice
- Live Stream: NHL.tv
- NHL Week 21 Odds: TBA
Season Series
Detroit goes for the sweep as it beat the host Wild 5-2 on Jan. 12. Playing in his 100th career game, Tyler Bertuzzi recorded his first career hat trick for the Wild. Bertuzzi completed his three-goal performance at 8:38 of the third period, converting a feed from Gustav Nyquist by lifting a backhand past Devan Dubnyk.
Thomas Vanek had the other two goals for Detroit. Dylan Larkin had three assists and Nyquist had two for the Red Wings top trio. Nino Niederreiter and Luke Kunin scored for the Wild, who had just 19 shots.
Why Bet on Minnesota?
The Minnesota Wild are starting to fade out of the playoff chase as they were on a five-game losing streak entering Thursday’s visit to the Rangers. Minnesota could thus be active ahead of the trade deadline. This week, the team made a deal, landing Ryan Donato and a conditional 2019 conditional fifth-round draft pick from the Boston Bruins for Charlie Coyle.
Donato made an immediate impact in the NHL last season when he picked up nine points in 12 games with the Bruins after spending most of the season at Harvard. The 22-year-old has struggled this year, as he’s picked up just nine points in 34 games in the NHL. He was set to debut with Minnesota on Thursday.
The Wild could move pending unrestricted free agent Eric Staal by Monday’s trade deadline. Staal has 17 goals and 37 points in 59 games this season. Zach Parise owns eight points (4-4=8) in the last 12 contests and 20 points (8-12=20) in his last 24 games. The Minneapolis native recorded 10 or more shots three times this season, the most by an NHL player. He also leads the Wild in goals, PPG (8) and shots on goal, ranks T-1st in GWG (4), third in assists and T-3rd in multi-point games (10) and PPP (12).
Minnesota leads the NHL in goals scored (38), the percentage of goals scored (23.3%) and PPG (12) by defensemen. Amongst NHL defenseman, Matt Dumba (despite not playing since Dec. 15) ranks T-3rd with 12 goals and Jared Spurgeon ranks T6th with 11, Ryan Suter ranks T-10th in assists and T-12th in scoring. Wild defensemen have totaled 123 of the team’s 446 points this season, ranking T-4th amongst NHL teams at 27.6%.
Ryan Suter owns 13 points (2-11=13) in the last 16 games, ranking T-2nd amongst NHL defensemen in assists and T-4th in scoring since Jan. 12. The 34-year-old has tallied 30-plus assists in 10 of his 14 NHL seasons and in six of his seven seasons with the Wild.
Team Stats
Offense- Goals: 2.75
- Shots: 31.57
- PP/PK Percentage: 20.88
- Goals: 2.97
- Shots: 29.18
- PP/PK Percentage: 19.37
Why Bet on Detroit?
The Detroit Red Wings is definitely going to be active by the trade deadline as it lost a third in a row Wednesday, 5-4 at home in overtime to Chicago. Patrick Kane’s second goal of the game, with 2:18 left in overtime, gave the Blackhawks the win. Kane extended his point streak to 19 games and helped the Blackhawks recover after blowing a 4-1 lead in the third period. Detroit outshot Chicago 35-20.
Andreas Athanasiou scored a pair of goals in the loss. Athanasiou’s two goals helped tie the game and force overtime. The 24-year-old has 22 goals and 39 points in 55 games this season. He’s picked up 11 points in his last 11 contests. Dylan Larkin scored two goals and an assist. Larkin’s first goal tied the game at one at the 6:37 mark of the first period. The 22-year-old has six points in his last five games. He’s up to 26 goals and 58 points in 60 games this season. Anthony Mantha picked up four assists.
The 24-year-old now has six points in his last three games and eight in his last five. Mantha is up to 14 goals and 14 assists in 46 games this season.
Detroit goaltender Jimmy Howard allowed four goals on eight shots before Jonathan Bernier replaced him early in the second period. Bernier had 11 saves but once again, ended up as the tough-luck loser. Bernier has a 6-13-4 record with a 3.31 goals-against-average and a .898 save percentage this season. Not clear which may start here. Probably Bernier.
Winger Darren Helm (undisclosed) didn’t participate in Thursday’s practice. Helm was struck by teammate Danny DeKeyser’s shot during Wednesday’s game and is questionable Friday. Fellow winger Justin Abdelkader is dealing with the flu and likely to sit Friday. He has five goals and 15 points in 61 contests in 2018-19.
Team Stats
Offense- Goals: 2.82
- Shots: 29.92
- PP/PK Percentage: 16.36
- Goals: 3.34
- Shots: 32.61
- PP/PK Percentage: 22.22
Wild vs Red Wings NHL Week 21 Betting Trends
- Over is 12-3-2 in the last 17 meetings in Detroit
- Home team is 6-1 in the last 7 meetings
- Minnesota is 6-1 ATS in its last 7 games on the road
- Minnesota is 2-4 SU in its last 6 games when playing Detroit
- The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Minnesota’s last 6 games
- Detroit is 2-5 ATS in its last 7 games
- Detroit is 2-6 SU in its last 8 games
- The total has gone UNDER in 8 of Detroit’s last 12 games
Expert NHL Betting Pick
Minnesota Wild 2 – Detroit Red Wings 3
