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Making on a bet on this NHL game featuring the Wild versus the Blue Jackets? The puck drops at 7:00 ET, and you can watch it all unfold on ESPN+. The game will be played at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, OH. The Wild are the favored team in this non-conference contest against the Blue Jackets. The game's over/under currently sits at 6 goals.

MINNESOTA WILD VS COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS BETTING PICK

The Pick: Columbus Blue Jackets +1.5

This game will be played at Nationwide Arena at 7:00 ET on Saturday, January 6th.

WHY BET THE COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS:

  • With the Wild being favored by 1.5, our NHL analytics models has this one playing out 4-3 in favor of the Wild.
  • Take the Wild on the moneyline
  • On the puck line, we like Blue Jackets (+1.5)

Can Minnesota Pull Off a Road Win?

For the season, the Wild currently hold an overall record of 16-17-4. On the road, Minnesota has gone 6-10-2 and they are 10-7-2 at home. Their current record places them 7th in the Western Central division and 13th in the Western conference.

In terms of the puck line, Minnesota are 20-17. When playing on the road against the puck line, they are 11-7, while their overall home performance is 9-10. The average goal total for Minnesota's games is sitting at 6.3. The average over/under line for the season is 6.3. The Wild come in with an over/under record of 17-17-3.

In their last three road games, Minnesota has averaged 3 goals per game while allowing 3. The team's record in this stretch was 1-2 while going 2-1.

On the offensive side, the Wild are scoring an 2.9 goals per game this season, ranking 25th in the NHL. When it came to shots on target per game, they are 25th in the league. Looking at how the Wild's offense is performing during power plays, they are 22nd in power play goals and 27th in shorthanded goals.

Minnesota will be looking for a good game from Joel Eriksson Ek who leads the team in scoring with 15 goals, ranking 42nd in the NHL. Along with his scoring, he has come up with 10 assists so far.

Entering the game, the Blue Jackets' defense ranks 21st in takeaways, averaging 5.9 takeaways per contest. In the NHL, they currently stand at 1st in terms of goals allowed, giving up an average of 3.4 goals per game.

Goalie Marc-Andre Fleury gets the start and has made 15 starts this season. His record at this point is 6-8, and his save percentage is 0.6176470588235294%.

Can Columbus Lock in a Home Win?

Currently, the Blue Jackets hold an overall record of 13-19-8 for the season. On the road, Columbus has a 5-8-5 record, while they are 8-11-3 at their home venue. Their current record places them 8th in the Eastern Metropolitan division and 15th in the Eastern conference.

In terms of the puck line, Columbus are 25-15. When playing on the road against the puck line, they are 14-4, while their overall home performance is 11-11. Games involving Columbus have an average of 6.7 goals per game this season. Their average over/under line is 6.5. In terms of their over/under performance, the Blue Jackets come in with a record of 21-18-1.

Columbus has a 1-2 record in their last three home games. In this stretch, they averaged 2 goals per game while allowing 3. The team also performed well vs the puck line at 3-0.

On offense, the Blue Jackets are averaging 3.1 goals per game which is 13th in the NHL. In terms of shots on goal per game, they are 16th in the league. The Columbus offense is ranked 28th in power play goals. As for shorthanded goals, they find themselves at 32nd in the NHL.

Columbus' leading scorer is Kirill Marchenko. So far, he has 13 goals which is 63rd in the NHL. In addition to his goal scoring, Marchenko has 8 assists this season.

The Blue Jackets' defense comes into the game with a ranking of 21st in takeaways and an average of 5.9 takeaways per contest. They hold 1st place in the NHL for goals allowed, with an average of 3.4 goals given up per game.

Goalie Elvis Merzlikins comes into the game having made 23 starts this season. So far, his record is 7-8 and he has a save percentage of 0.9117647058823529%.