Adam Williams presents his prediction for the NHL match.
After securing a narrow away victory over the Buffalo Sabres (1:0), the Minnesota Wild return to Saint Paul to face their Central Division rivals, the Chicago Blackhawks. The Blackhawks currently sit at the bottom of both the division and the Western Conference standings.
Minnesota Wild
The Minnesota Wild are having to cope without Kirill Kaprizov's regular line partner, Mats Zuccarello (6+8), and this absence has immediately impacted their scoring output. In their last six games, the Wild have only managed to score more than three goals on two occasions. Kaprizov himself has not been as prolific without the Norwegian, as advanced statistics reveal. With Zuccarello on the ice, Kaprizov generates 5.89 goals per hour of play with a 16% shooting success rate, compared to 4.23 goals with a 13.5% success rate without him.
Chicago Blackhawks
Interestingly, the Blackhawks rank as the second most underwhelming team in terms of scoring this season, just behind the Anaheim Ducks. Bets on the over for an even total have hit in only 6 out of 22 games (27%) involving the Blackhawks, with three pushes. The standout reason is their goaltending duo's exceptional performance. Petr Mrazek and Arvid Söderblom collectively save 91.6% of shots faced with a goals-against average of 2.59. Considering the Blackhawks allow an average of 30.6 shots per game, it’s quite an achievement.
Minnesota Wild vs Chicago Blackhawks Prediction
In their previous meeting on November 11, the Minnesota Wild managed to breach Mrazek's net only once (1:2 OT). Since then, the Chicago Blackhawks have played another five low-scoring games and seem poised to continue, as their offensive talent beyond Connor Bedard is limited. We're going with a total under.
