Wild vs Golden Knights NHL Week 17 Odds & Expert Pick.

Wild vs Golden Knights NHL Week 17 Odds & Expert Pick

Written by on January 21, 2019

Just four games on the Monday NHL schedule, and it’s a unique 6 p.m. ET start time from Las Vegas – likely due to the MLK Day holiday – as the  Vegas Golden Knights welcome the Minnesota Wild. Vegas is the clear NHL betting odds favorite.

How to Bet Wild vs Golden Knights NHL Week 17 Odds & Game Info

Season Series

Second of three meetings. The Wild lost at home to Vegas in a shootout way back on Oct. 6. Erik Haula scored in the shootout for the winner.

The Knights’ Max Pacioretty snapped home a one-timer in the slot from Jonathan Marchessault with 1:31 left in regulation to tie the game as Coach Gerard Gallant pulled goaltender Marc Andre-Fleury. Fleury made 29 saves for Vegas. Matt Dumba scored for the Wild, who were the only team in the Western Conference to sweep Vegas last season. Minnesota goaltender Devan Dubnyk stopped 41 of the 42 shots he faced.

Why Bet on Minnesota?

The Wild were 2-1 home winners vs. Columbus on Saturday. Zach Parise posted his 20th goal of the season with a plus-1 rating in the game. Parise’s marker with 2:24 remaining in the first period stood up as the game-winning tally, his third winner in the month of January and his fourth overall this season. After a bit of a cold spell in the middle of December, he has picked up the pace. Parise has five goals with 13 points across the past 13 outings.

Paris owns 12 points (4-8=12) in his last 12 games and 18 points (6-12=18) in the last 19 contests. The 34-year-old leads the Wild with 42 points (20-22=42) in 46 games this season. Last season he tallied 24 points (15-9=24) in 42 contests. He also leads the Wild in goals, multi-point games (10) and shots on goal, ranks T-1st in PPG and plus/minus rating, and third in assists.

Victor Rask picked up an assist with a plus-1 rating, three shots on goal and a blocked shot. Rask looked good in his team debut, picking up a helper with fellow newcomer Pontus Aberg on Zach Parise’s game-winning tally late in the first period. Rask managed just one goal and six points in his 26 games with the Carolina Hurricanes before a trade to Minnesota.

Devan Dubnyk allowed just one goal on 20 shots. Dubnyk has been impressive over the past two outings, allowing just one goal on 35 shots. He is 5-2-0 with a 2.53 goals-against average in eight starts in the month of January.

Jared Spurgeon owns eight points (3-5=8) in the last nine matches, ranking T-1st amongst NHL defensemen in goals and T-4th in scoring since Jan. 3. Since Dec. 15, Spurgeon ranks sixth in the NHL in TOI and seventh in TOI/game at 25:47. The blueliner leads the team in blocked shots (76) and shorthanded TOI/game (2:25), is third in TOI/game (23:11), T-3rd in multi-point games (8), fifth in assists and T-5th in scoring. Spurgeon is the franchise leader in goals scored by a defenseman and ranks T-1st in GWG (Brent Burns 13).

Team Stats

Offense
  • Goals: 2.77
  • Shots: 31.54
  • PP/PK Percentage: 20.71

Defense

  • Goals: 2.88
  • Shots: 29.31
  • PP/PK Percentage: 15.17

Why Bet on Vegas?

The Knights were 7-3 winners over Pittsburgh on Saturday. Jonathan Marchessault posted three goals for his second career hat trick. Marchessault picked up the first hat trick of the season for the Golden Knights, and the third in franchise history. It was his first since March 25, 2017, when he was a member of the Florida Panthers. Marchessault had just one goal and no assists over his first seven contests in the month of January, and it was his first multi-point game since Dec. 14 in New Jersey.

Paul Stastny went for two assists with a plus-2 rating. Stastny has picked up the pace lately, going for one goal and five points during his current three-game point streak, and he has four goals and nine assists across the past 11 contests dating back to Dec. 27 against his former team, the Colorado Avalanche.

Wild vs Golden Knights should be a close one.

William Karlsson went for a goal, an assist, and a plus-1 rating. Karlsson is on pace for 26 goals and 56 points, which would be a far cry from his breakout 43-goal, 78-point performance from a season ago. However, he posted 16 goals and 36 points in just 34 games in 2017-18 after the All-Star break. In his first game back in more than a month, Colin Miller posted two assists to help drive the Golden Knights’ offense from the back end.

Marc-Andre Fleury allowed three goals on 38 shots against his former team. Fleury easily outperformed his counterpart, Casey DeSmith. The Golden Knights rank fifth in the NHL in goals-against per game as they’ve allowed an average 2.65 goals. Fleury has recorded six shutouts this season. Vegas has won 20 games since Nov. 21 and has a record of 20-4-3 in that stretch.

Team Stats

Offense
  • Goals: 3.08
  • Shots: 33.40
  • PP/PK Percentage: 19.08

Defense

  • Goals: 2.68
  • Shots: 28.58
  • PP/PK Percentage: 16.67

Wild vs Golden Knights NHL Week 17 Betting Trends

  • Wild are 1-4 in their last 5 Monday games
  • Wild are 1-5 in their last 6 vs. Pacific
  • Golden Knights are 5-1 in their last 6 games playing on 1 days rest
  • Golden Knights are 6-2 in their last 8 games following a win
  • Minnesota is 0-5 ATS in its last 5 games
  • Minnesota is 4-2 SU in its last 6 games on the road
  • The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Minnesota’s last 8 games
  • Vegas is 2-5 ATS in its last 7 games
  • Vegas is 9-2 SU in its last 11 games
  • The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Vegas’s last 6 games at home

Expert NHL Betting Prediction for Wild vs Golden Knights

Minnesota Wild 2 – Golden Knights 3