Minnesota Wild (25-21-3) vs. Colorado Avalanche (22-19-8)
NHL Hockey: Wednesday, January 23, 2019 (Pepsi Center)
Line and Odds: Colorado Avalanche -1.5 Over/Under: 6.0
Free ESPN NHL Picks Minnesota Wild vs. Colorado Avalanche
The Minnesota Wild and my boys the Colorado Avalanche will face off tonight at the Pepsi Center. The Avalanche probably feel the need to bounce back after they took a 4-1 drubbing against the Predators in their last outing. The Minnesota Wild are on a slightly different trajectory; they will be looking to continue their winning way as they have won the last two straight. This would include a competitive 4-2 victory against the Vegas Golden Knights on Monday. Yes, it should be a fun game to watch and wager on if you so desire.
Minnesota Wild
In the Minnesota Wild’s last game against the Golden Knights, Vegas jumped out to a one-goal lead early in the first period and it remains that way into the intermission. The tie was broken by the Wild in the second with a goal from Marcus Foligno and then Eric Staal gave Minny the lead just over a minute later. Vegas retaliated and that made the game a total tie heading into the final period. Pairs of goals from the WIld’s Charlie Coyle and Mikko Koivu sealed the deal for the Wild’s 4-2 victory.
Colorado Avalanche
The Colorado Avalanche are unfortunately not doing as well as the Wild. Of course, my guys had trouble during the last game when they last 4-1 against the Predators. Colorado’s defensemen held the game to a scoreless tie until the second when the Preds grabbed a 2-0 lead with two goals in rapid succession. Avalanche Goalie Semyon Varlamov was definitely killing me during that small stretch for sure. The Avs Alex Kerfoot would cut the lead to 2-1 with a goal in the second but the Preds would answer just a minute later again. They would then go on to get an empty net goal for their 4-1 victory.
Minnesota Wild Trends
Minnesota is 1-7 ATS in its last 8 games
The total has gone UNDER in 13 of Minnesota’s last 19 games
Minnesota is 5-2 SU in its last 7 games on the road
Minnesota is 0-5 ATS in its last 5 games when playing Colorado
Minnesota is 15-8 SU in its last 23 games when playing Colorado
Colorado Avalanche Trends
Colorado is 2-5 ATS in its last 7 games
Colorado is 3-11 SU in its last 14 games
The total has gone OVER in 7 of Colorado’s last 9 games
Colorado is 3-6 ATS in its last 9 games at home
Colorado is 2-5 SU in its last 7 games at home
ESPN NHL Picks Colorado Avalanche vs. Minnesota Wild
Admittedly, this is a bit of a tough game to call. The teams both are evenly matched in records, and while Colorado’s record has been rough SU against the Wild lately (8-15), they are 4-1 SU in their last five games along against the Wild at home. For this reason, if I really wanted the thrill of a bet that could go either way, I would probably have to go with the Avalanche. Moreover, this might be a decent game for betting below the spread, simply because the Wild are 0-5 ATS versus Colorado and 1-7 ATS in their last 8 games. It’ll be interesting to see how it all plays out for sure.