Wild vs Avalanche Odds, Picks, and Predictions Tonight: Twine Time for MacKinnon

Two of the hottest teams in the Western Conference collide tonight when the Colorado Avalanche welcome the Minnesota Wild to Ball Arena.

Despite still playing without leading scorer Kirill Kaprizov, the Wild are 7-2-1 in their last 10 games, led by a red-hot Matt Boldy, who’s fresh off his second hat trick of the month. Meanwhile, the Avs have been even better, winning nine of their last 10 contests.

Which of these streaking clubs has the edge tonight? We’ll discuss in our Wild vs Avalanche NHL picks and predictions for Wednesday, March 29.

Wild vs Avalanche best odds

Wild vs Avalanche picks and predictions

Minnesota cruised to a 5-1 win over Seattle on Monday courtesy of a natural hat trick from Matt Boldy. The 21-year-old has picked up the scoring slack in Kaprizov’s absence, recording two hat tricks in his last five games and 11 goals in the nine contests without their leading scorer. 

Since March 11 — the Wild’s first game without Kaprizov — Boldy leads the NHL in goals and ranks tied for fifth in points.

Against all odds, Minnesota has actually excelled offensively without Kaprizov, which makes very little sense considering his 39 goals on the season are still 11 more than Boldy, the club’s second-best scorer. The Wild are averaging 4.22 GPG since March 11 — the sixth-best mark in the league.

Outside of Boldy’s hot streak, what’s helped the Wild overcome Kaprizov’s absence has been exceptional depth — the team has 16 different goal scorers in its last nine games.

Coincidentally, Colorado’s recent 9-1-0 run also started on March 11, and the Avalanche have similarly been shooting the lights out. Colorado’s .900 points percentage ranks first in the NHL over that span while its 4.00 GPG is tied for seventh, just behind Minnesota.

The Avs have really taken advantage of their power play opportunities of late, converting on a league-high 43.3% of their chances during this run. 

Cale Makar and Nathan MacKinnon have spearheaded the attack as both players have accumulated eight power-play points since March 11 — tied for the most in the NHL. Meanwhile, MacKinnon’s 18 overall points rank first among all skaters.

There are plenty of good options to choose from on either team, but for my best bet, I’m going to stick with MacKinnon, who’s found the back of the net in 16 of his last 23 outings. 

My best bet: Nathan MacKinnon to score a goal (+106)

Wild vs Avalanche moneyline analysis

The Avs have the home ice advantage, coming into this matchup as the -148 favorite, though I’m not sold on them having an indisputable edge.

While Colorado does own the best record in the NHL over the last two weeks and change, the Avalanche have benefited greatly from an easy schedule. The Avs have collected three wins over the Coyotes as well as victories over the Habs, Senators, Red Wings, Blackhawks and Ducks. In short, eight of their nine wins have been against non-playoff or outright tanking teams.

The Wild, on the other hand, have picked up five of their last seven wins against teams that are either in the playoffs or just outside. Their 5-1 win over a strong Seattle team was impressive, and they also defeated New Jersey — one of the top teams in the NHL — 2-1 last week.

Both teams are undoubtedly playing excellent hockey right now, though, so it’s tough to pick between them. I think Colorado ultimately has more offensive depth, just because Minnesota has relied on Boldy so heavily of late, and that could give the Avs the edge.

Wild vs Avalanche Over/Under analysis

Tonight’s total opened at 6 goals but slid down to 5.5 at multiple books. Given how many goals we’ve seen from both teams in recent weeks, I think the Over is the play tonight.

The Over is 7-2-1 in Minnesota’s last 10 outings, with eight of those games featuring at least six goals. The Over has cashed in only three of Colorado’s last seven contests, but five of those games had at least six total goals.

In terms of head-to-head meetings, the Under is 4-1-1 in the last six matchups between the Avalanche and Wild, though the Over is 3-1-1 in the last five at Ball Arena.

The determining factor to me, though, is that both offenses have been extremely hot, with Minnesota and Colorado both averaging at least 4.00 GPG since March 11. 

The Avalanche have been sturdy defensively over that span, allowing just 2.20 GAPG, but the Wild have managed at least three goals against them in four of the last five meetings, so I think we’ll see plenty of red lights tonight.

Wild vs Avalanche betting trend to know

Colorado is 4-0 in the last four meetings. Find more NHL betting trends for Wild vs Avalanche. Find more NHL betting trends for Wild vs Avalanche.

Wild vs Avalanche game info

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