Free NHL Hockey Prediction: Blackhawks vs Wild NHL Odds
Looking for Chicago Blackhawks vs. Minnesota Wild free hockey plays & NHL Odds? NHL betting sees the Blackhawks taking on the Wild on Wednesday February 8th at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota. Cappers Picks provides complimentary expert handicapping picks on all NHL Hockey matchups all season long so stay tuned for more FREE daily NHL hockey predictions.
(32-17-5) Chicago Blackhawks vs. Minnesota Wild (34-12-5)
Date: Wednesday February 8th
Time: 8:00PM
Venue: Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota
NHL Hockey Moneyline Odds: Wild -154
NHL Hockey Puck Line Odds: OFF
NHL Betting Total: 5.5
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In a game between the top team in the Central Division, the Minnesota Wild, and the 2nd team in the Central, the Chicago Blackhawks, both teams will desperately want to end Wednesday night with two points.
Chicago will need it to inch closer to that top spot again, while Minnesota will want to continue its great run and increase the gap between it and the Blackhawks.
Chicago Blackhawks
Despite winning the last two games, the Blackhawks have looked pretty shaky over the past couple of weeks. Leads have been squandered, 3rd periods have been played poorly, and offenses have stagnated.
Chicago needs to start winning consistently again in order to get that top spot back in the Central Division.
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To beat the extremely tough Wild, the Blackhawks have to be aggressive in the offensive zone and get a good amount of shots on goal. All the forwards are going to need to step up and overwhelm the Minnesota defense and goaltender Devan Dubnyk.
Jonathan Toews, who hasn’t had a great year by his standards, will need to be better and find a way to get to the net. He’s been decent over the past five games, scoring two goals and two assists. He’ll look to add to that tally on Wednesday.
Defensively, the Keith-Hjalmarsson and Forsling-Seabrook pairings will need to perfect to stop the Wild forwards, who have really stepped things up in terms of scoring lately.
If Chicago is going to get its first win against Minnesota this year, the whole team needs to be firing on all cylinders.
Minnesota Wild
The more wins this team gets, the more goals it scores, and the more opponents it keeps off the scorers sheet, the more you have to start taking this Minnesota squad seriously in terms of making a push for the Stanley Cup.
Usually, the motus operandi of the Wild is stifling defense and solid goaltending, while just trying to be as good as possible on offense in order to get the win. However, this year Minnesota has been a wonderful offensive team, scoring over 3.2 goals per game.
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And it hasn’t just been one or two players racking up the points. Six players have scored 10 or more goals on the year, including left wing Jason Zucker. Zucker has 16 goals and 22 assists, including two goals and four assists over the last five games.
Center Mikael Granlund leads the team in total points. He’s been fantastic this year, tallying 15 goals and 33 assists.
Over his previous five, he has four goals and five assists, including a hat-trick in the last game against Vancouver.
NHL Betting Trends:
- The Total has gone OVER in four of Chicago’s last five games
- Minnesota is 19-6 ATS in the last 25 games
Free Chicago Blackhawks vs. Minnesota Wild NHL Hockey Prediction:
The Wild have had the Blackhawks’ number all season and I honestly don’t think that will change in this one. Minnesota has the immediate advantage of being the home team and the defense is simply fantastic. I like Minnesota to get the W here.
4* Free NHL Betting Pick: Minnesota ML
As good as Chicago can be, the team has looked shaky in 2017, losing games in the 3rd period and letting in a lot of goals. I like the Minnesota money line here.
NHL Free Score Prediction: Chicago 2 – Minnesota 4
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