In their third and last head-to-head meeting of the regular season, the Vegas Golden Knights and the Minnesota Wild clash at the Xcel Energy Center. This Western Conference matchup will get started at 8 p.m. ET on Thursday, March 12, and it is being shown live on AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain.

Vegas Golden Knights at Minnesota Wild Odds

Playing the role of favorite will be Vegas (-130), while Minnesota is an underdog offering moneyline odds of +110, and the Over/Under (O/U) has been placed at 6 goals. If bettors want to put some action on this matchup’s total, they’ll be looking at odds of -105 for the over and -115 on the under.

Vegas is 39-32 straight up (SU) and has lost 11.3 units for moneyline bettors this year. Through 71 regular season matches, 34 of its games have gone over the total, while 32 have gone under and just five have pushed. The Knights are 17-17 SU as an away team in 2019-20.

Vegas has converted on 22.0 percent of its power play opportunities this year, a mark that’s good enough for eighth-best in the NHL. On the other hand, its penalty kill is ranked 27th out of 31 teams, and it has successfully killed off only 76.5 percent of its penalties.

For the team as a whole, Vegas has been penalized 3.5 times per game in the 2019-20 season, and 2.2 per game over its last five on the road. The team has had to kill penalties just 4.6 minutes per game over their last 10 outings.

Averaging 25.8 saves per game with a .905 save percentage, Marc-Andre Fleury (27-22-5) has been the top option in goal for Vegas this year. If it chooses to give him a rest, however, Vegas may go with Robin Lehner (19-17-6), who has a .920 save percentage and 2.89 goals against average this year.

The visiting Golden Knights have relied on Max Pacioretty and Mark Stone heavily this season. Pacioretty has 66 points on 32 goals and 34 assists, and has recorded multiple points in 16 different games. Stone has 21 goals and 42 assists to his name, and has notched a point in 39 games.

Over on the other bench, Minnesota is 35-34 straight up (SU) and has earned moneyline bettors 0.7 units this season. Through 69 regular season matches, 34 of its games have gone over the total, while 30 have gone under and just five have pushed. This season, the team is 19-16 SU at home.

Minnesota has converted on 21.3 percent of its power play opportunities this year, a mark that places it in the top-10 among NHL teams. On the other hand, its penalty kill is ranked 23rd overall, and it’s successfully killed off 77.3 percent of all penalties.

Minnesota skaters have been penalized 3.6 times per game this season, and 4.6 per game over their past five games. The team’s had to kill penalties just 7.4 minutes per game over their last 10 outings.

Alex Stalock (25.9 saves per game) has been the primary option in the crease for Minnesota. Stalock has 21 wins, 17 losses, and four overtime losses to his credit and has recorded a mediocre 2.67 goals against average and a .910 save percentage this season.

Kevin Fiala (23 goals, 31 assists) will pace the attack for the Wild.

Vegas Golden Knights at Minnesota Wild Free Picks

Prediction: SU Winner – Wild, O/U – Over

Notes

Betting Trends

For both of these clubs, the game went over the total in three of their past five outings.

Vegas has managed 32.6 shot attempts per game over its last five road games while Minnesota is averaging 37.0 shots per game over its last five home outings.

Power plays and penalty kills may be key in tonight’s matchup. The Golden Knights are 11-12 in games where they serve fewer penalty minutes than their opponent and 28-21 when they serve fewer than 10 total penalty minutes. The Wild are 17-13 when the team serves fewer penalty minutes than the opposition and 24-22 in games where they’re in the box for less than 10 minutes.

Minnesota is 2-3 in games decided by a shootout this season while Vegas is 3-2 in shootouts.

Minnesota is ranked 26th in the league this season with 6.4 takeaways per game. That figure’s trended down lately, however, as it has averaged 4.9 takeaways over its last 10 games and 4.8 takeaways over its last five.

One of the league’s best at creating pressure on opposing teams, Vegas is ranked second overall this season with 9.6 takeaways per game. That figure has trended down lately, however, as it’s managed 8.8 takeaways over its last 10 games and 7.6 takeaways over its last five.