In their second head-to-head meeting of the regular season, the Arizona Coyotes and the Vancouver Canucks collide at Rogers Arena. This divisional matchup will get going at 10:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday, March 4 and it’s being shown live on Sportsnet Pacific.

Arizona Coyotes vs. Vancouver Canucks Odds

Playing the role of favorite will be Vancouver (-130), while Arizona is an underdog offering moneyline odds of +110, and the oddsmakers have set the Over/Under (O/U) at 6 goals. The odds for betting the total sit at -110 for the over and -110 on the under.

Netting moneyline bettors 2.2 units, the Canucks are 34-31 straight up (SU) overall this year. That winning percentage, ranked 3rd in the Pacific Division in this young season, is a welcome improvement over the 35-47 record from last year’s regular season campaign. Of the team’s 65 games this season, 36 have gone over the total, while 26 have gone under and just three have pushed. Thus far, the team is 20-11 SU at home.

Vancouver’s converted on 23.9 percent of its power play chances this season, a figure that’s good enough for fourth-best in the league. On the other hand, its penalty kill is ranked 18th overall, and it’s successfully killed off 79.9 percent of all penalties.

Vancouver, as a collective unit, has been penalized 3.9 times per game overall this season, and 5.2 per game over its last five matchups at home. The team’s had to defend opponent power plays for just 7.4 minutes per game over its last five outings, overall.

Averaging 30.3 saves per game with a .918 save percentage, Jacob Markstrom (23-20-4) has been the best option in goal for the Canucks this year. If they, however, choose to rest him, the team could turn to Thatcher Demko (12-11-11 record, .903 save percentage, 3.08 goals against average).

The Nucks will continue to look for leadership from J.T. Miller and Elias Pettersson. Miller (68 points) has produced 26 goals and 42 assists and has recorded multiple points 18 times this year. Pettersson has 26 goals and 37 assists to his name and has recorded at least one point in 38 contests.

Arizona has lost 7.2 units for bettors taking the moneyline this year and is currently 32-35 straight up (SU). Through 67 regular season outings, 37 of its games have gone under the total, while 28 have gone over and just two have pushed. Arizona’s 15-19 SU as the visiting team this season.

Arizona has converted on 19.4 percent of its power play chances this year, a figure that’s right around league average. On the other hand, its penalty kill unit is ranked fifth overall and it’s successfully killed off 83.0 percent of all penalties.

Arizona’s skaters have been penalized only 3.1 times per game this season, and 2.2 per game over their past five outings. The team’s been forced to kill penalties just 5.8 minutes per game over their last 10 outings.

Antti Raanta (2.63 goals against average and .921 save percentage) has been the primary option in goal for Arizona. Raanta is averaging 28.3 saves per game and owns a 15-18-3 record.

For the visiting Coyotes, a lot of the offense will be facilitated by Taylor Hall (15 goals, 35 assists) and Clayton Keller (17 goals, 26 assists).

Arizona Coyotes vs. Vancouver Canucks Betting Predictions

Pick: SU Winner – Canucks, O/U – Under

Notes

Betting Trends

For both of these clubs, the over has hit in four of their last five matchups.

The Coyotes are 11-18 when they serve fewer penalty minutes than their opponent and 26-30 in games where they serve fewer than 10 total penalty minutes.

Vancouver is 3-3 in games decided by a shootout this season while Arizona is 5-4 in shootouts.

Vancouver is ranked 21st this season with 6.9 takeaways per game. That figure has trended higher recently, as the team has forced 7.6 takeaways over its last 10 games and 8.6 takeaways over its last five.

Arizona is ranked 23rd in the NHL with 6.5 takeaways per game. That figure has trended upward lately, as the team has created 7.1 takeaways over its last 10 games and 7.8 takeaways over its last five.