BEST LINE: Pinnacle -½ -115

Posted at 12:45 PM EST.

Regulation only. Arizona has picked up a respectable 5 out of a possible 10 points. That’s nice for a team that has perhaps the least amount of talent in the NHL but man, are they up against it here. Arizona has allowed four goals or more in four of its five games. When a team is focused and jacked up to play, the Coyotes are in in trouble. Indeed Arizona has a couple of nice wins but it's a small oasis in a desert of despair. The Yotes lost to St. Louis 6-1 and they lost to Winnipeg 6-2 and they’ll now play a team that cannot wait to get back on the ice.

Minnesota has played just four games this season, which is the least amount in the league. They have played just one home game which occurred back on October 9 when they outshot the Avs 48-16 and won 5-0. The Wild have dropped two straight to Anaheim and Los Angeles by identical 2-1 scores. They had the Ducks on the ropes until Anaheim scored a lucky shorthanded goal to tie it in the third. At that point, the Ducks were fortunate to not be down by three goals. Two nights later, the Wild went into Los Angeles and outshot the Kings, 41-16 and played practically the entire game in L.A.’s end. It was one of the sickest and most frustrating losses for anyone that wagered on the Wild that night. Minnesota has dominated every game they have played in thus far, yet they are just 2-2. They have allowed just four goals against in four games and they possess perhaps the best defense in the league to go along with a group of strong two-way players that take a back-seat to nobody, not even the Kings. Minnesota is a powerhouse that has as good a chance to win the Cup this year as any team in the league. There is very little chance that the Wild are going to allow a team like Arizona, with a garbage goaltender in Mike Smith, to come in here and defeat them after they dominated their past two games and have nothing to show for it. Seldom do we recommend laying juice and pucks but we’re extremely confident in Minnesota to put away this nothing team with relative ease.