This is a 10* TOP TOTAL on the OVER Pens/Wild.

Pittsburgh has been really good this year. It's 40-18-4-6 this season overall, and it's been really good on the road in particular as it's 21-8-2-3 away from friendly confines.

Minnesota has also been really good. It's 41-20-0-4 this season, which includes going 24-7-0-1 at home.

Each has been good on both ends of the ice. Pittsburgh averages 3.29 goals per game, which is ninth, and it allows 2.59 which is fourth.

Minnesota averages 3.63 goals per game, while allowing 3.06. Minnesota clearly is not as good on the defensive end.

But the Wild have won seven straight coming into this one, ALL of those games have come at home. And so this is the end of Minnesota's lengthy eight game home stand and so far it's averaged three goals per game during that stretch. I think it can match that scoring output here again.

Pittsburgh though also plays with the added incentive of revenge here after falling 5-4 at home to Minnesota in early November.

So with each side pushing the pace like I'm expecting from start to finish, I think we'll see a similar final combined score here as what we saw in the first matchup.

The play is the OVER.

Good luck, NP