Minnesota intends to displace Colorado from first place in the Western Conference standings, but first it needs to earn two points in a battle with St. Louis. After the resumption of the regular season, the “musicians” managed to beat an opponent from the top 8, will they be able to stop one of the leaders? Or will the “savages” prevail in the second head-to-head meeting in a row?
▪️ Minnesota was left without points for the first time in a month
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John Hines‘ team went into the Olympic break in great spirits – the team won six victories in seven matches, and the only failure in this period came in overtime. After the resumption of the regular season, Minnesota continued to gain points – in the first match it did not notice the resistance of Colorado (5:2), the strongest team of the season. But it was not possible to consolidate the success in the meeting with the more modest “Utah” (2:5). Even Kirill Kaprizov’s goal didn’t help the “savages”scored on the power play midway through the second period. It is important to say that that battle was the second for the Wild in a day, which means that the defeat can be justified by fatigue.
Minnesota’s estimated lineup: Gustavsson (Wallstedt) – Hughes, Faber – Kaprizov, Hartman, Zuccarello
Full application: defenders – Middleton, Spurgeon, Hunt, Bogosian; forwards – Johansson, Foligno, Boldi, Trenin, Yurov, Tarasenko, Hinostroza, Sturm, Pitlik
Will not play: Brodin, Eriksson Ek (both injured)
Head coach: John Hines
▪️ St. Louis breaks its streak of defeats
“St. Louis,” like its opponent, greeted the return of the NHL after the Olympic break with a victory. Jim Montgomery’s team defeated strong Seattle (5:1), a contender for a place in the playoffs, with a crushing score. Dylan Holloway, a Canadian striker who had just come out of the hospital, had an amazing fight, scored three goals and gave an assist. It is interesting that the Blues were inferior to their opponents in terms of expected goals (2.9 versus 3.3), but managed the chances they created noticeably better. And Joel Hofer had a great fight – he made almost 96% of his saves. True, the points scored are still not enough for the “musicians” to take a place higher than 15th. Moreover, in the next match the team failed to cope with New Jersey, losing at home with a score of 1:3.
St. Louis’ estimated lineup: Hofer (Binnington) – Broberg, Paréjko – Schenn, Dvorsky, Snaggerud
Full application: defenders – Tucker, Faulk, Fowler, Mailu; forwards – Neighbors, Buchnevich, Kairu, Berggren, Suter, Bjugstad, Toropchenko, Fabbri, Joseph
Will not play: Thomas (questionable)
Head coach: Jim Montgomery
▪️ The first goal will decide the outcome
“St. Louis” and “Minnesota” know very well that playing with a lead is much easier than catching up with the opponent. Thus, in each of the last nine personal meetings, the victory was celebrated by the team that opened the scoring. At the start of the current regular season, the Wild were stronger on the road – 5:0. Kirill Kaprizov has an assist hat-trick.
⚠️ What is important to know
- “St. Louis” creates chances for 2.7 expected goals per game – the second indicator from the bottom.
- “Minnesota” is in the top 6 best clubs in terms of power play conversion – 25.8%.
- “Musicians” conceded in the second period in 45 of 59 matches.
☑️ Forecast for the match Minnesota – St. Louis: Minnesota wins in regular time at odds of 1.72
- Main forecast: “St. Louis” is the worst team in the Western Conference in playing on the road. In 27 matches, Montgomery’s team earned only 17 points – terrible numbers. But the Wild are performing amazingly on their home ice – they scored as much as 68% of the possible points and are among the top three in this indicator. Let’s not forget that the “savages” turned out to be stronger in four of the last five head-to-head meetings. Seems logical Minnesota’s victory in regular time in 1.72. Let’s assume the exact score is 5:2.
- Total forecast: The main problem of St. Louis remains a weak defensive game, which the team is trying to compensate for with an effective attack. So, in the past 5 matches, the Blues conceded 20 goals and scored 18. The Wild, at a similar distance, turned on the red light behind the opponents’ goal as many as 22 times – the best figure in the Western Conference. The numbers clearly hint at total over (6.5) for 2.08.
- Power play goal forecast: The “Savages” exchanged power-play goals with “Utah” and twice punished “Colorado” for violating discipline. “St. Louis” was able to realize its numerical advantage in the match with “Dallas”, but it was not possible to keep the goal out of touch, having one less hockey player on the court, in the game with “New Jersey”. Following the trends both will score on the power play.
