Calgary Flames vs Minnesota Wild Prediction, 12/14/2023 NHL Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Calgary Flames vs Minnesota Wild

Date: Thursday, December 14, 2023

Location: Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, MN

TV: Bally Sports North

Odds/Point Spread: Flames (+133) Wild (-162)

The Calgary Flames (11-14-4) are hitting the road to Xcel Energy Center on Thursday where they will play the Minnesota Wild (10-12-4). The moneyline on this game has Calgary at +133 while Minnesota is at -162. The betting total is set at 7.

The Calgary Flames will look to clean up some issues after taking a 5-4 defeat to the Golden Knights their last time out. The Flames had a good offensive output in the defeat. In the outing, they netted 4 out of the 31 shots they launched. Furthermore, they had 2 chances on the power play but didn't convert them into a score. Calgary had 8 penalty minutes for this contest.

Calgary Flames opponents have earned 91 power play opportunities (14th in hockey) and have scored 16 goals in those chances. The Flames so far have had 855 shots tried against them and have a save percentage of .882. Calgary has taken 910 shots and holds a shot percentage of 9.6%. When playing at even strength, the Flames have allowed the opponent to score 85 goals while scoring 77 of their own. Calgary has accumulated 88 power play chances and they have scored 10 goals out of those attempts, giving them a percentage of 11.36%. For the season, they have tallied 26 points and their points percentage sits at .448. In reference to their scoring, the Calgary Flames have earned 87 goals (16th in the league) over the course of the season and have allowed 101.

The man protecting the net in this game is Daniel Vladar. Opponents have notched 177 goals against Vladar in his professional career and his goals against average per game is 3.00. Vladar has been in net for 64 matchups over the course of his professional hockey career. His save percentage currently is .894 for his 3,538 minutes between the pipes. He has earned a mark of 33-18-9 and he started in 56 games. For his professional hockey career, Vladar has tallied 25 quality starts and his percentage for quality starts is .446. Vladar has seen 1,674 shot attempts against him and has garnered 1,497 saves.

When they were on the ice last, Minnesota went up against the Kraken in an outing where the Wild ended up with the win by a final score of 3-0. They had 2 attempts on the power play in this game but were not able to net one. The Wild scored 3 goals out of the 26 shots on goal they tried.

Minnesota has tried 788 shots (27th in the league) and has earned a shot percentage of 10.15%, while allowing their opponents 779 shots. They have earned a penalty kill percentage of 71.74% on their opponents 92 power play chances, and their save percentage comes in at 89.0%. They have a total of 90 power play opportunities and they have a power play rate of 17.78%. The Wild have accumulated 64 goals at even strength and 16 goals (22nd in professional hockey) while having more men on the ice. They have allowed 86 goals to be scored by way of 60 goals at even strength and 26 goals while they were shorthanded. This season, the Minnesota Wild have earned a total of 80 goals, 24 points, as well as a points percentage of .462.

For the opposition you will find Filip Gustavsson in net. Teams are averaging 2.61 goals per contest and he has conceded 206 goals overall. Gustavsson's rate of quality starts comes out to 61.8% and he has made 47 quality starting assignments in his NHL career. He has started in 76 contests and his ice time sits at 4,737 minutes. Gustavsson has amassed a lifetime record of 38-29-12 and has participated in 82 games. He has accrued 2,253 stops out of the 2,459 shots taken against him, giving him a save % of .916.

Who will win tonight's NHL game against the spread or moneyline?

Parlays Pundit's Pick: Take Minnesota (-162) and under 6.5 goals

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Additional Resources:
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