The Minnesota Wild will travel to Edmonton, Alberta to face the Edmonton Oilers at the Rogers Place with the game scheduled to start at 9:00 PM ET on Friday night and will air on Root Sports North and Bally Sports and Bally Sports North.

The Minnesota Wild enter this game with a record of 26-24-6 and 58 points which puts them in 6^th place in the Central Division and 12^th place in the Western Conference while having lost two of their last three games including Tuesday’s 3-6 loss on the road against the Winnipeg Jets. 

Minnesota has been a middle-of-the-pack team offensively this season as they rank 15^th in goals with an average of 3.16 goals per game and have the 13^th-best power-play success rate at 22.68%. Defensively, the Wild have been one of the worst teams in the league as they have the 3^rd worst penalty-kill percentage at 74.48% and are allowing the 10^th most goals per game with an average of 3.38 goals per game. 

Kirill Kaprizov has been one of the better players on the team as he is tied for the team lead in assists and leads the team in points with 35 assists and 59 points. The Minnesota Wild will look to avoid their 3^rd loss in their last four games when they travel to face the Edmonton Oilers.

The Edmonton Oilers enter this game in 3^rd place in the Pacific Division with a record of 33-18-2 and 68 points which also gives them the 6^th best record in the Western Conference following Wednesday’s 5-6 overtime loss at home against the Boston Bruins which also ended their two-game winning streak. 

Connor McDavid has been one of the best players in the NHL this season as he leads the league in assists with 64 and is 3^rd in the league in points with 85. The Oilers have been one of the highest-scoring teams in the NHL this season as they are averaging the 5^th most goals per game and have the 4^th best power-play success rate at 26.42% while averaging 3.62 goals per game. 

Defensively, Edmonton has been slightly above average as they rank 12^th in goals allowed with an average of 2.94 goals allowed per game and rank 16^th in penalty-kill percentage at 79.1%. The Edmonton Oilers will look to bounce back following the loss at home against the Bruins when they host the Minnesota Wild on Friday night.

BookMaker has the Edmonton Oilers listed as -190 moneyline favorites at home against the Minnesota Wild on Friday night. Minnesota has won eight of the last ten and two of the previous three meetings. The Wild have won by an average margin of 1.6 goals per game over the last ten and 1 goal per game over the last three games in the series.

Edmonton enters this game with a better record this season, however, Minnesota has been the dominant team in the series, winning eight of the last ten and two of the previous three contests. The Wild have won by an average margin of 1.6 goals per game over the last ten and 1 goal per game over the last three games in the series. As a result, I am taking the puck line for the Minnesota Wild at +1.5 when they travel to face the Edmonton Oilers.