by Chuck Sommers
Thursday, Mar 02, 2023
Time: 10 p.m. ET
Venue: Rogers Arena, Vancouver, BC
Where to watch: SNP, BSN, BSWIX
Opening Odds at USA Sportsbooks
DraftKings: Wild -165, Canucks +140
FanDuel: Wild -165, Canucks +140
BetMGM: Wild -165, Canucks +140
Caesars: Wild -165, Canucks +140
Season record
Wild: 34-21-6
Canucks: 24-31-5
The All-Star break is over, the second half of the NHL season can officially begin, and we're bound for what should be a very exciting second half of the hockey season. Basketball and hockey are about to rule the roost in the sports betting world once the Super Bowl is done with, and we should all be very excited for what's to come. When the trade deadline hits and players switch teams, you know things are about to get hectic over these final 30 games or so. One way you can stay tuned with the action is following what our champion handicappers are doing in the world of the NHL. Look at ASA, Inc., reeling in a $6,750 profit off a 17-9-0 run. Al McMordie is also doing well on the ice with a 13-5-0 run and a net profit of $6,050. Scott Rickenbach has also been hanging strong with a lot of betting action, in what's been an unusual year, with a 24-18-0 run and reeling in $5,950. You know this action is going to be great now that games are back and a busy second half if on the horizon. All you need to do is head to our BEST BETS page at bigal.com to find out all of what we're trying to tell you. Make sure you're locked in at bigal.com and go to our Best Bets page to find out what our champion handicappers have to say in the world of the NHL!
Wild - Canucks preview, prediction and analysis
The Minnesota Wild will be playing the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday, March 2 in Vancouver.
The Minnesota Wild won against the New York Islanders Tuesday, February 28 at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota with a score of 2-1 resulting from a shootout. The Minnesota Wild currently rank 2nd in the Central Division.
Filip Gustavsson made 39 saves and another three in the shootout. Gustavsson made five saves in overtime before denying Simon Holmstrom, Bo Horvat and Kyle Palmieri in the shootout.
"It's just how the games are though. Like we win with one goal, I don't know how many games this year it's only been [by] one goal," Gustavsson said. "So yeah, I've trusted the process there. We've been lucky enough to get a few more points more than we lost points, so it's great."
Ryan Reaves scored his first goal of the season for the Wild (34-21-6), who have won their past two games and are 6-0-1 during the point streak.
"Our defensive zone has been pretty locked down lately," Reaves said. "We're staying out of the box, which is good for rolling lines and keeping everybody in it. I think we're starting to get comfortable with these low-scoring games where we're just locking down the [defensive] zone and putting a couple in the net."
Josh Bailey ended a 23-game drought at 14:15 of the first period when he scored on a rebound to give New York a 1-0 lead. Reaves tied it 1-1 at 18:00, batting Jordan Greenway's rebound out of midway after Sorokin made a save on a shot from the left face-off circle.
"I wouldn't say 'silky mitts.' I would say a nice bat," Reaves said. "Silky mitts has never been used with Ryan Reaves before."
Each team had 15 shots on goal in the first.
Gustavsson kept it tied at 13:12 of the third period with a save against Zach Parise, who was alone down low. He later stretched his pad out to stop a rush from Palmieri 59 seconds into overtime, followed by back-to-back saves on Parise at 1:42 and 1:44.
"We didn't have our stuff, but we still stuck together and did those little things," Minnesota coach Dean Evason said. "They had way too many chances. [Gustavsson] had to be really, really good in a lot of areas. But we stuck together, stuck with it, and got two points."
Frederick Gaudreau scored the only goal in the third round for Minnesota, which is 17-7-6 in one-goal games this season.
The Minnesota Wild have won seven of their last 10 games.
The Vancouver Canucks won against the Dallas Stars last Monday, February 27 at American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas with a score of 5-4 in overtime. The Vancouver Canucks currently rank 6th in the Pacific Division.
Anthony Beauvillier scored twice, Andrei Kuzmenko had two assists, and Quinn Hughes had three assists,for the Canucks (24-31-5). Thatcher Demko made 34 saves in his return after missing 35 games because of a lower-body injury he sustained against the Florida Panthers on Dec. 1.
"Pretty crazy day, just leading up to it," Demko said. "A little bit of nerves, a little bit of anxiety, just making sure you're ready to go and coming back in. It feels great getting the job done. Feels good being back with the guys, that's the most important thing.
"I knew I was good to go coming into the game. I wanted to make sure I had that confidence in my body before I was fully back in the lineup and playing a game. There was definitely no hesitation tonight."
Beauvillier gave Vancouver a 1-0 lead at 3:27 of the first period, finishing high glove side on a rebound. Jamie Benn tied it 1-1 at 8:37 with a short-handed breakaway after Tyler Seguin forced a turnover at the defensive blue line.
Sheldon Dries scored 23 seconds later on the same power play to put Vancouver back in front 2-1. Vasily Podkolzin pushed it to 3-1 at 15:03 when his shot from the slot banked in off of Stars defenseman Jani Hakanpaa.
Dallas cut it to 3-2 before Beauvillier scored his second of the game to make it 4-2 at 11:28.
"I just think we've got a lot of new guys here," Canucks coach Rick Tocchet said. "I thought in the first period we held our own. Obviously, that's a great hockey team over there, and they start pushing. Puck management wasn't good. Obviously, the four power plays we gave them in the second really hurt us, but we didn't bend, and obviously Demko was great."
Dallas tied it with two more goals.
Andrei Kuzmenko scored 48 seconds into overtime. Kuzmenko scored off a centering pass from Anthony Beauvillier, who had just come onto the ice after replacing Elias Pettersson.
The goal stood after a lengthy video review initiated by the Situation Room determined Beauvillier had possession of the puck and was onside as he backed into the offensive zone prior to the goal.
"That's what I thought, that's why I left the bench," Stars coach Peter DeBoer said. "It was kind of a fingers crossed moment. You hope maybe you get the call, but I would expect that to count if we had scored the goal."
The Vancouver Canucks have won four of their last 10 games.
Prediction
If you're trusting the Canucks right now, I don't trust you. Wild 4, Canucks 2
The Minnesota Wild won against the New York Islanders Tuesday, February 28 at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota with a score of 2-1 resulting from a shootout. The Minnesota Wild currently rank 2nd in the Central Division.
Filip Gustavsson made 39 saves and another three in the shootout. Gustavsson made five saves in overtime before denying Simon Holmstrom, Bo Horvat and Kyle Palmieri in the shootout.
"It's just how the games are though. Like we win with one goal, I don't know how many games this year it's only been [by] one goal," Gustavsson said. "So yeah, I've trusted the process there. We've been lucky enough to get a few more points more than we lost points, so it's great."
Ryan Reaves scored his first goal of the season for the Wild (34-21-6), who have won their past two games and are 6-0-1 during the point streak.
"Our defensive zone has been pretty locked down lately," Reaves said. "We're staying out of the box, which is good for rolling lines and keeping everybody in it. I think we're starting to get comfortable with these low-scoring games where we're just locking down the [defensive] zone and putting a couple in the net."
Josh Bailey ended a 23-game drought at 14:15 of the first period when he scored on a rebound to give New York a 1-0 lead. Reaves tied it 1-1 at 18:00, batting Jordan Greenway's rebound out of midway after Sorokin made a save on a shot from the left face-off circle.
"I wouldn't say 'silky mitts.' I would say a nice bat," Reaves said. "Silky mitts has never been used with Ryan Reaves before."
Each team had 15 shots on goal in the first.
Gustavsson kept it tied at 13:12 of the third period with a save against Zach Parise, who was alone down low. He later stretched his pad out to stop a rush from Palmieri 59 seconds into overtime, followed by back-to-back saves on Parise at 1:42 and 1:44.
"We didn't have our stuff, but we still stuck together and did those little things," Minnesota coach Dean Evason said. "They had way too many chances. [Gustavsson] had to be really, really good in a lot of areas. But we stuck together, stuck with it, and got two points."
Frederick Gaudreau scored the only goal in the third round for Minnesota, which is 17-7-6 in one-goal games this season.
The Minnesota Wild have won seven of their last 10 games.
The Vancouver Canucks won against the Dallas Stars last Monday, February 27 at American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas with a score of 5-4 in overtime. The Vancouver Canucks currently rank 6th in the Pacific Division.
Anthony Beauvillier scored twice, Andrei Kuzmenko had two assists, and Quinn Hughes had three assists,for the Canucks (24-31-5). Thatcher Demko made 34 saves in his return after missing 35 games because of a lower-body injury he sustained against the Florida Panthers on Dec. 1.
"Pretty crazy day, just leading up to it," Demko said. "A little bit of nerves, a little bit of anxiety, just making sure you're ready to go and coming back in. It feels great getting the job done. Feels good being back with the guys, that's the most important thing.
"I knew I was good to go coming into the game. I wanted to make sure I had that confidence in my body before I was fully back in the lineup and playing a game. There was definitely no hesitation tonight."
Beauvillier gave Vancouver a 1-0 lead at 3:27 of the first period, finishing high glove side on a rebound. Jamie Benn tied it 1-1 at 8:37 with a short-handed breakaway after Tyler Seguin forced a turnover at the defensive blue line.
Sheldon Dries scored 23 seconds later on the same power play to put Vancouver back in front 2-1. Vasily Podkolzin pushed it to 3-1 at 15:03 when his shot from the slot banked in off of Stars defenseman Jani Hakanpaa.
Dallas cut it to 3-2 before Beauvillier scored his second of the game to make it 4-2 at 11:28.
"I just think we've got a lot of new guys here," Canucks coach Rick Tocchet said. "I thought in the first period we held our own. Obviously, that's a great hockey team over there, and they start pushing. Puck management wasn't good. Obviously, the four power plays we gave them in the second really hurt us, but we didn't bend, and obviously Demko was great."
Dallas tied it with two more goals.
Andrei Kuzmenko scored 48 seconds into overtime. Kuzmenko scored off a centering pass from Anthony Beauvillier, who had just come onto the ice after replacing Elias Pettersson.
The goal stood after a lengthy video review initiated by the Situation Room determined Beauvillier had possession of the puck and was onside as he backed into the offensive zone prior to the goal.
"That's what I thought, that's why I left the bench," Stars coach Peter DeBoer said. "It was kind of a fingers crossed moment. You hope maybe you get the call, but I would expect that to count if we had scored the goal."
The Vancouver Canucks have won four of their last 10 games.
Prediction
If you're trusting the Canucks right now, I don't trust you. Wild 4, Canucks 2
Projected lines
Wild:
Kirill Kaprizov -- Ryan Hartman -- Mats Zuccarello
Marcus Foligno -- Joel Eriksson Ek -- Matt Boldy
Jordan Greenway -- Frederick Gaudreau -- Brandon Duhaime
Mason Shaw -- Connor Dewar -- Ryan Reaves
Jake Middleton -- Jared Spurgeon
Alex Goligoski -- Matt Dumba
Jon Merrill -- Calen Addison
Filip Gustavsson
Kirill Kaprizov -- Ryan Hartman -- Mats Zuccarello
Marcus Foligno -- Joel Eriksson Ek -- Matt Boldy
Jordan Greenway -- Frederick Gaudreau -- Brandon Duhaime
Mason Shaw -- Connor Dewar -- Ryan Reaves
Jake Middleton -- Jared Spurgeon
Alex Goligoski -- Matt Dumba
Jon Merrill -- Calen Addison
Filip Gustavsson
Canucks:
Andrei Kuzmenko -- Elias Pettersson -- Anthony Beauvillier
Conor Garland -- Sheldon Dries -- Brock Boeser
Vasily Podkolzin -- Aatu Raty -- Vitali Kravtsov
Dakota Joshua -- Nils Aman -- Jack Studnicka
Quinn Hughes -- Tyler Myers
Christian Wolanin -- Kyle Burroughs
Guillaume Brisebois -- Noah Juulsen
Thatcher Demko
Andrei Kuzmenko -- Elias Pettersson -- Anthony Beauvillier
Conor Garland -- Sheldon Dries -- Brock Boeser
Vasily Podkolzin -- Aatu Raty -- Vitali Kravtsov
Dakota Joshua -- Nils Aman -- Jack Studnicka
Quinn Hughes -- Tyler Myers
Christian Wolanin -- Kyle Burroughs
Guillaume Brisebois -- Noah Juulsen
Thatcher Demko
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Chuck Sommers
About the Author:
Chuck Sommers has camped outside of sportsbooks since he can remember, learning the tricks and nuances of the trade. He still has nightmares of betting $5,000 on the Raiders in the Tuck Rule game but has since turned that to 25 years of veteran handicapping greatness. You can find him mostly in the shadows at the Red Rock or Aliante casinos wondering if the over is cashing on any given Sunday.
