NHL Grind Down: Monday, January 25th - Page Two
Arizona Coyotes at Minnesota Wild – 08:30 PM EST
| Arizona Coyotes | Minnesota Wild | ||||||||
 | Louis Domingue |  | Devan Dubnyk | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 23-19-5 | 23-17-8 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.70 | 2.96 | 18.60% | 76.40% | Team Stats | 2.50 | 2.33 | 17.40% | 79.50% |
Arizona picked up a huge win against Los Angeles to stop a four-game losing streak and still somehow find themselves alive in the Pacific Division. They’ll leave the desert after a long seven game homestand and head to St. Paul to take on the Minnesota Wild. These two teams have split their first two meetings this season (both in Arizona) but Minnesota has been a far better team at the Xcel Energy Center where they’re only allowing 2.17 goals against per game. Oliver Ekman-Larsson scored his 14th goal of the season on Saturday and is now tied with Mikkel Boedker for the team lead with 34 points. He’s a mortal lock for 25+ minutes of playing time and all the work he can handle on the point of the power-play. This matchup is far from ideal, but he’s the only Coyote on my cash game radar. Up-front, the previously mentioned Boedker leads Antoine Vermette and Tobias Rieder on the top line, with martin Hanzal centering Max Domi and Viktor Tikhonov on another.
Minnesota has really slipped up lately and now find themselves in serious danger of missing out on post-season action if they don’t get things turned around. They’ve lost six of their last seven games and have now posted just a 6-10-2 record over their last 18 games. They’ll host the Arizona Coyotes tonight before heading back out on another tough road trip and picking up two points in this one is crucial. Despite their recent struggles, they’re still likely to be very popular selections tonight as the Coyotes have allowed an ugly 2.96 goals against per game this season. Mikko Koivu leads the team with 34 points and has tallied 21 points in 24 home games this season. He’ll center Thomas Vanek and Jason Zucker on the top line where all three players have plenty of upside in this matchup. While Koivu may lead the team in points, Zach Parise is still the most dangerous offensive weapon. Parise has scored a goal and added two assists against Arizona in their two prior meetings this season and will be joined by Jason Pominville and Mikael Granlund both at even strength and on the top power-play unit. On defense, Ryan Suter remains criminally underpriced on FanDuel for a blue-line with 31 points in 48 games and should be a tough cash game fade against the Coyotes ugly 76.4% penalty kill. Alternatively, Jared Spurgeon also sees plenty of time alongside Suter on the power-play and scored a goal against Arizona in their last meeting making him a rock solid value option.
Elite Options
ARI: Oliver Ekman-Larsson
MIN: Zach Parise, Mikko Koivu, Jason Pominville, Ryan Suter
Secondary Options
ARI: Martin Hanzal, Max Domi, Mikkel Boedker, Antoine Vermette
MIN: Jason Zucker, Thomas Vanek, Mikael Granlund, Charlie Coyle, Jared Spurgeon