2023 NHL Playoffs: Wild vs. Stars Odds, Picks, & Prediction

While neither team tops the NHL Stanley Cup odds to win Lord Stanley’s Cup, the Minnesota Wild and Dallas Stars played the most physical opening game of all the first-round series and the first multiple overtime game of the playoffs.

With game two on the horizon, the Wild look to take a 2-0 series lead back to the State of Hockey, while the Stars will be out for revenge on multiple fronts.

We’ll review the stats, trends, and odds and recap game one before making our Wild vs Stars picks for game two.

Before making our Wild vs Stars picks, we need to review the odds and betting records.

Despite losing game one, the Dallas Stars (-1.5) are the moneyline favorite, listed between -150 and -154. The Minnesota Wild (+1.5) are the underdogs, listed between +125 and +130. The Wild are 38-45 ats this season, while the Stars are 43-30 ats. 

The total goals line is set to the NHL low of 5.5. The over is listed between +100 and +110, while the under is listed between -122 and -133. Minnesota has a 34-45-4 over/under record, while Dallas has a 34-44-5 over/under record.

Notably, the under is 8-3 in the previous 11 meetings in Dallas, the underdog is 4-1 in the last five games, and the road team is 5-2 in the previous seven.

Minnesota Wild vs Dallas Stars

Location of the Game: American Airlines Center, Dallas, TX.

Date and Time: Wednesday, April 19th, 2023.

How to Watch: ESPN2 | SN360

The Wild and Stars met four times on the 2022-23 regular season NHL schedule, with each team winning two games. Minnesota and Dallas posted 1-1 home and away records in those four games and went 1-3 over/under. 

Minnesota defied many NHL predictions, winning game one 3-2 in double-overtime in Dallas, hitting the under of 5.5 total goals.

With a win tonight, the Minnesota Wild will escape Dallas up 2-0, controlling the series. 

Minnesota averages 2.9 goals per game, while the powerplay converts at 21.4%. Defensively, the Wild give up 2.7 goals per game, while the penalty kill operates at 82.0%. 

Kirill Kaprizov leads the Wild in NHL Stats with 75 points (40 goals, 35 assists). Filip Gustavsson should start game two for the Wild. Gustavsson had a 22-9-7 record, a 2.10 GAA, and a .931 SV% in the regular season, and made 51 saves (a .962 SV%) in Monday night’s win.

The Dallas Stars will be looking for revenge on Wednesday night after losing the game in double overtime and losing Joe Pavelski to a significant head injury for an undetermined timeframe.

As expected, Dallas defensive NHL team stats are impressive, giving up 2.6 goals per game, while the penalty kill operates at 83.5%, ranking third in both categories in the regular season. Offensively, Dallas averages 3.4 goals per game, while the powerplay converts at 25.0%. 

Jason Robertson led the Stars in NHL player stats with 109 points (46 goals, 63 assists). We expect Jake Oettinger back in net for the Stars. Oettinger had a 37-11-11 record, a 2.37 GAA, and a .919 SV% in the regular season and posted a 1.95 GAA and .938 SV% in a 45-save losing effort on Monday.

We need to turn our NHL predictions into our Wild vs Stars picks.

Pick 1: Our first pick is to take the Dallas Stars to win and even the series. This series and these two teams are evenly matched. We expect Dallas to win game two and this series to go at least six games.

Pick 2: Our second pick is to take the under. The Wild and Stars are 1-4 over/under this season.

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