NHL Predictions: March 9 Pittsburgh Penguins at Minnesota Wild

The Penguins take on the Wild in a post-trade deadline matchup.

Welcome back to NHL Predictions here on Last Word on Hockey! Each day, we provide in-depth analysis, insights, and predictions for all the NHLs games.

In todays matchup, the Pittsburgh Penguins visit the Minnesota Wild at Xcel Energy Center.

Pittsburgh aims to halt their recent skid, while the Wild look to cement their playoff positioning.

NHL Predictions Pittsburgh Penguins vs.

Minnesota Wild Head-to-Head: Wild 1-0 Penguins Time: 3:30 p.m.

Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) TV: ESPN+, Sportsnet+ This is the second meeting between these teams this season.

The Wild secured a 5-3 victory in Pittsburgh late in October in their first contest.

Minnesota will look to build momentum amid a Western Conference thats loaded up their respective rosters following the trade deadline.

The Penguins Story The Pittsburgh Penguins are in an absolute freefall.

With a 24-30-10 record, Pittsburgh currently sits in the bottom five in the entire NHL.

Its important to note that they are tied with the Seattle Kraken and only four points up on the Buffalo Sabres.

Seattle has a game in hand, whereas the Sabres have three games in hand.

Its entirely likely the Penguins fall to fourth-worst or lower before the end of the season given their current trajectory.

That is definitely something to keep in mind for their draft lottery positioning.

Following a multitude of trades at the deadline, the top line is still intact.

Sidney Crosby , Rickard Rakell and Bryan Rust lead the team in points.

Crosby has 66 across 63 games, Rakell 53 in 64, and Rust 47 in 54.

Outside of this trio and Evgeni Malkin , offence has been difficult for Pittsburgh.

Following the deadline, watch for additions Tommy Novak, Connor Dewar and Connor Timmins trying to make their mark on a new roster.

The Wild Story The Minnesota Wild sit in the top Western Conference wild card spot with a 36-23-4 record.

With yesterdays loss to Vancouver, combined with Colorados win against Toronto, Colorado leap-frogged Minnie in the standings.

Despite being two points behind Colorado, the Wild do have a game in hand.

With wildcard teams in the West facing the threat of playing Winnipeg or Vegas in round one, the Wild have a lot of incentive to show up against the Penguins.

With superstar Kirill Kaprizov facing injury throughout the season, young forward Matt Boldy has taken the reins offensively.

The winger has scored 21 goals and 54 points across 63 games this season.

Kaprizov, having played just 37 games, still sits tied-for second on the Wild with 52 points.

The Wild will need contributions from offensive forwards Marco Rossi and Mats Zuccarello along with Boldy to get past this Penguins team.

As a note, Rossi is tied with Kaprizov in 26 fewer games played.

In addition to them, new acquisition Gustav Nyquist will look to establish his role on his new club.

NHL Prediction The Penguins are floundering, while the Wild need to pad their standings in the playoff race.

Expect Minnesota to pitch a strong performance on home-ice.

NHL Prediction: Wild win 4-3.

Prop Bet for the Night Total Goals Over 6 (-106): The Penguins continue to be one of the worst defensive teams in the NHL.

Expect a high-powered Minnesota offence to give either one of Alex Nedeljkovic or Tristan Jarry a tough game.

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