The Minnesota Wild (34-21-4) travel to face off against the Colorado Avalanche (34-24-2) on Friday, February 28th. This game will be played at Ball Arena in Denver and televised on ESPN+. The Wild are coming off a win in their previous game, while the Avalanche are looking to get back on track from a loss to the Predators. Puck drop is set for 9:00 ET.

Wild vs Avalanche

The Minnesota Wild Are Coming Off A Win

With a 2-1 overtime win against the Maple Leafs, the Wild improved to 34-21-4. Minnesota was favored on the puck line, but didn’t cover. The total was set at 6 goals, and the game’s 3 combined goals fell short of that mark.

Ryan Hartman opened the scoring for the Wild at 9:41 in the first period, but the Maple Leafs tied it up with just 52 seconds remaining in the period. Matt Boldy netted the game-winner at 2:14 in overtime.

The Colorado Avalanche Look To Bounce Back From A Loss

The Avalanche fell to 34-24-2 after a 5-2 road loss to the Predators. Colorado was the underdog on the puck line, and the total of 6.5 goals was surpassed with the combined 7 goals.

Colorado took the lead at 2:54 in the second period, but Nashville responded with five unanswered goals. The Avalanche’s defense struggled, giving up two empty-net goals in the third period.

Minnesota Offense Breakdown

Ryan Hartman opened the scoring for the Wild, netting his third goal of the season at 9:41 in the first period. Matt Boldy followed with his sixth goal, which came in overtime to secure the win. Both Hartman and Boldy took 3 shots on goal.

Jared Spurgeon contributed with two assists, bringing his season total to three. The Wild fired 33 shots on goal but were held scoreless in the second and third periods before Boldy’s overtime winner.

Avalanche Offense Breakdown

Colorado took 30 shots on goal but only managed to score twice in their 5-2 loss to Nashville. Cale Makar netted his 5th goal of the season on a power play, while Nathan MacKinnon added his 6th goal late in the third period. Makar also picked up his 16th assist, and MacKinnon recorded his 14th assist on Makar’s goal.

The Avalanche were held scoreless in the first period before Makar’s power-play goal at 17:06 in the second. MacKinnon’s goal came with just 2:17 left in the game. Colorado struggled with giveaways, tallying 23 in the game.

Minnesota Team Defense

Defensively, the Wild will look to carry momentum from their previous game, where they allowed just one goal to the Maple Leafs. Filip Gustavsson made 27 saves, finishing with a 96.4% save percentage. The defense also recorded 7 takeaways and 22 hits. The only goal they allowed came on a power play with 52 seconds left in the first period.

Colorado Team Defense

Defensively, the Avalanche gave up the first goal at 11:29 in the 2nd period and allowed two more in the 3rd, with the final two coming on empty-netters. Justus Annunen made 21 saves with a save percentage of 87.5%. Colorado’s defense also recorded 11 takeaways and 26 hits.

Wild vs Avalanche Trends

• Although Minnesota has a straight up record of 5-5 in their last ten road games, they have not held up as well vs the puck line going 5-5. The team averaged 2 goals per game in these games.
• Across their ten previous home games, Colorado has an puck line mark of 5-5. Their straight up record in these matchups was 6-4 while averaging 3 goals per game.
• As the betting underdog, the Avalanche have an puck line record of 3-0 in their last three games. In these matchups their, straight up record was 3-0.
• Going back to their last five games as the favorite, the Wild have a straight up record of 2-3. But, their mark vs the puck line was just 2-3.

Wild vs Avalanche Prediction

For a moneyline bet, we have the Avalanche as the likely winner. However, with the current odds at -240, I’d suggest considering a puck line bet, as our predictions have the Avalanche winning by more than one goal.

For a puck line pick, we are going with the Avalanche to win and cover. Look for the Avalanche to win this one by multiple goals over the Wild.

When considering the over/under line, which is currently at 6 goals, we believe that this game will go over that threshold, and we recommend wagering on the over.

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All odds are courtesy of Action247 Sportsbook. Good luck!!

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* All odds are provided by Action247 Sportsbook and all odds subject to change.**All views expressed are my own. My picks are my own and are not a guarantee, bet at your own risk.Action247 does not warrant the accuracy of completeness of the information, text, graphics, links or other items contained within these post.