The Vancouver Canucks wrap up a lengthy six-game road trip on Tuesday vs. Minnesota and Eric Rosales believes attention to detail defensively will best suit them against one of the best teams in the NHL. Find out why he's taking the Under below.
NHL
The end of a marathon six-game road trip comes to an end Tuesday for the Vancouver Canucks.
If they want to end it with a fifth win, they’ll need to knock off the NHL’s best team, the Minnesota Wild.
With Vancouver taking on the top defensive team in hockey, my Canucks vs. Wild prediction is leaning on a low-scoring affair at Xcel Energy Centre.
My Canucks pick
Under 5.5 (-108 at Pinnacle)
My Canucks analysis
The Vancouver Canucks put in extra work in back-to-back games, and it has paid off. They knocked off the Red Wings 5-4 in OT, a game after topping the Sabres 4-3 in extra time.
That win pushes the Canucks to double-digit wins away from home on the season, one of only three teams in the NHL currently at 10. That list includes both the New Jersey Devils and Tuesday’s opponent, the Minnesota Wild.
Once owners of the best goals against on the road, the Canucks have been leaking of late, but they’re still tied for fourth at a solid 2.42 clip. They’ve allowed four goals in two of the last three away starts, after surrendering three or fewer in the previous eight.
Fortunately, their slow-starting offense has been picking up steam, now a Top 10 team in the league in scoring at 3.30 goals per game. Vancouver has picked up four or more goals in four of the last five, to offset some of the slippage.
They’ll need every bit of offense Tuesday, when they take on a Wild team looking for its fourth straight win, with only four regulation losses on the season.
Minnesota is behind the ‘Nucks in scoring, at 3.21 goals per game, but they sport a league-leading 2.33 goals against average.
The Wild have allowed two or fewer goals in seven of the last 10 starts, including all three during this current winning streak.
They’ve also had the best of Vancouver recently, having reeled off eight wins in the last nine head-to-head matchups.
But save for a bonkers 10-7 Minnesota win in the last meeting, the scoring has been low and the checking tight in recent matchups, with the previous four games cashing the Under, making it my top NHL picks.
Vancouver is one of the elite road teams in the league, and goalie Kevin Lankinen is a perfect 10-0 as the away team goalie, sporting a 1.98 GAA and .931 save percentage.
This one has all the makings of a grind ‘em out rockfight. While the Canucks might not have the juice to score their way to win, they definitely have the ability to keep it close with a chance to steal one against the league’s top team.
The Canucks have lost five straight at Xcel Energy Center, and are just 1-6 this year as moneyline underdogs. Vancouver’s Over total has cashed six times in the last seven games.
The Wild are 5-2 in their last seven as moneyline favorites. Minnesota has hit the Over in four straight contests.
Learn how to bet a same-game parlay with these helpful tips and strategies.
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Odds courtesy of Pinnacle
The Vancouver Canucks have hit the 3P Game Total Under in 42 of their last 94 games (+9.85 Units / 9% ROI). Find more NHL betting trends for Canucks vs. Wild.
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Eric has been involved in sports media in many different capacities since graduating from journalism school in 1999, back when getting your own column in a newspaper was still considered a thing. He doubled down and graduated from broadcast journalism school five years later, which led to a move to Toronto and a career with The Sports Network (TSN). From behind-the-scenes production work, he moved into the digital realm, where he had his own hoops column (At the Buzzer), while regularly live streaming and chatting with fans during broadcasts as the character known as LeBlog James. He was also a key contributor to TSN and CTV’s Olympic programming during the 2012 London Games.
Eric eventually found his way into the sports betting field in 2016 and has been a mainstay ever since. He was tagged on Twitter as a Top 10 NBA sharp during the 2021 season and has been interviewed about basketball and his handicapping process on shows from Vancouver to India. Eric is now a jack-of-all-sports at Covers, where his predictions span the alphabet soup: NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, F1, WNBA, Euro, and Copa.
When making picks, he focuses on finding value first and foremost, and ensuring readers have all the information they need to make an informed choice.
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