Sunday's NHL Spotlight Game

Sunday's NHL Spotlight Game

By Rich Carlson
WagerWeb.com Contributing Writer

Anaheim Ducks (28-6-6) at Minnesota Wild (19-17-2), 6 p.m. ET

Current odds: Anaheim +115, Minnesota +150, Draw +320

The Anaheim Ducks will travel to the Xcel Energy Center on Sunday evening to battle the Minnesota Wild. The Ducks are the top team in the NHL with a blistering 28-6-6 record and are comfortably in first place in the Pacific Division. The Wild are in first place in the Northwest Division with a 19-17-2 record.

Anaheim boasts the league’s second-ranked offense (3.45 goals per game), and it has 6 players who have scored 11 or more goals this season. RW Teemu Selanne leads the team with 21 goals, including a phenomenal 12 power-play goals, while C Ryan Getzlaf and LW Dustin Penner have each tallied 15 goals. G Jean-Sebastien Giguere is the early favorite for MVP of the league with his stellar 23-4 record, 2.17 goals against average and .924 save percentage. Giguere strained his groin in his last outing and is listed as day-to-day.

The Wild are virtually unbeatable at the Xcel Energy Center, where they have won 15 games this season. RW Brian Rolston leads the Wild with 19 goals, while RW Pavol Demitra and RW Mark Parrish are the only other double-digit goals scorers for the Wild (10 goals apiece). G Manny Fernandez (15-13, 2.81 goals against average, .906 save percentage) is in danger of losing his starting job to the up-and-coming Nicklas Backstrom (4-4, 2.12 goals against average, .929 save percentage).

Anaheim leads the season series 2-1 (Oct. 20: Anaheim 2-1, Oct. 27: Minnesota 3-2, Nov. 12: Anaheim 3-2)

Injury report
Anaheim: D Francois Beauchemin (spleen) is on injured reserve and will be out indefinitely; G Ilya Bryzgalov (groin) is listed as questionable for tonight’s game; G Giguere (groin) is listed as questionable for tonight’s game; C Todd Marchant (abdominal) is listed as questionable for tonight’s game.

Minnesota: RW Marian Gaborik (groin) is on injured reserve and will be out until at least late December; D Petteri Nummelin (upper body) is listed as questionable for tonight’s game; C Jason Morgan (thigh) is on injured reserve and will be out indefinitely.

Key betting information
*-Anaheim is 7-3-0 in its last 10 games and has a 13-4-2 road record.
*-Minnesota is 4-6-0 in its last 10 games and has a 15-3-1 home record.
*-Anaheim’s No. 2-ranked offense (3.45 goals per game) vs. Minnesota’s No. 10-ranked defense (2.71 goals allowed average).
*-Minnesota’s No. 23-ranked offense (2.61 goals per game) vs. Anaheim’s No. 4-ranked defense (2.28 goals allowed average).
*-Anaheim’s No. 3-ranked power play (22.1% scored) vs. Minnesota’s No. 4-ranked penalty-killing unit (87.3% success).
*-Minnesota’s No. 10-ranked power play (18.2% scored) vs. Anaheim’s No. 6-ranked penalty-killing unit (85.6% success).

News & notes
New Jersey Devils G Martin Brodeur recorded his NHL-leading sixth shutout of the season and the 86th of his career in the Devils’ 2-0 victory over the New York Islanders on Saturday night.

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