Dallas Stars vs. Minnesota Wild Prediction, Preview, and Odds

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01 January 0001

The Dallas Stars will go on the road and take on the Minnesota Wild at Xcel Energy Center for game three of their playoff series. Dallas finished the season with a record of 47-21-14. The Wild ended the season with a record of 46-25-11 on the season. The playoff series is tied 1-1. The puck drops at 9:30 PM EST.

Stars Even Series

Dallas was a -155 favorite in game two of the playoff series and they defeated the Wild 7-3 to even up the series. Roope Hintz scored three goals and had one assist. Miro Heiskanen had four assists. Jamie Benn scored a goal and had an assist. Evgenii Dadonov scored twice. Jake Oettinger stopped 23 out of 26 shots faced.

The offense was good for Dallas this season. They ranked seventh in goals per game and 14 in shots per game. Jason Robertson led the team with 109 points. Robertson ranked seventh in goals in the league. Jamie Benn had 78 points, Joe Pavelski had 77 points, and Roope Hintz had 75 points. The offense struggled in game one scoring just two goals but bounced back in a big way in game two, scoring seven goals. Roope Hintz has four goals and an assist in this series.

The defense and goaltending have both been excellent for the Stars this season. They ranked third in goals against per game and ninth in shots against per game. Jake Oettinger had a record of 37-11-11 with a 2.37 GAA and .919 SV%. He ranked seventh in GAA, tied for fifth in SV%, and tied for second in shutouts among all goalies in the league. Oettinger was good in games one and two in the series. He allowed three goals on a whopping 48 shots faced in game one and he allowed three goals on 26 shots faced in a game two victory. Scott Wedgewood had a record of 9-8-3 with a 2.72 GAA and .915 SV%.

Wild Lose Game Two

Minnesota was a +135 underdog in game two and they lost 7-3 against the Stars. Marcus Johansson, Oskar Sundqvist, and Frederick Gaudreau each scored a goal. Marc-Andre Fleury allowed seven goals on 31 shots faced.

The Wild were not very good offensively this season. They ranked 23 in goals per game and 18 in shots per game. Kirill Kaprizov led the Wild with 75 points and 40 goals. Mats Zuccarello had 67 points. Minnesota scored three goals in each of the first two games of the series.

The defense was slightly below average but goaltending was very good for the Wild this year. They ranked sixth in goals against per game and 17 in shots against per game. Marc-Andre Fleury had a record of 24-16-4 with a 2.85 GAA and .908 SV%. Fleury struggled mightly in game two, allowing seven goals on 31 shots faced. Filip Gustavsson had a record of 22-9-7 with a 2.10 GAA and .931 SV%. Gustavsson started game one and was excellent in the net, stopping 51 out of 53 shots faced. With Fleury struggling so much in game two, look for the Wild to go back to Gustavsson in game three.

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Best Bets

Full-Game Side Bet

Rating:

This is an excellent series between the Stars and Wild. They split the series 2-2 during the regular season and the playoff series is even at 1-1. This is a fairly even series with two good teams. Minnesota stole game one in overtime and now gets two home games. With Fleury struggling so much in game two, look for the Wild to go back to Filip Gustavsson in game three. Gustavsson started game one and was excellent in the net, stopping 51 out of 53 shots faced. During the season, Gustavsson had a record of 22-9-7 with a 2.10 GAA and .931 SV%. He has been excellent and deserves to get the nod moving forward. With the series going to Minnesota, the Wild will win game three after a horrendous game two. Minnesota will win game three of the series and take a 2-1 lead.

Take Minnesota on the money line.

Prediction: Minnesota Wild (+110)

Full-Game Total Pick

Rating:

Both goalies have been excellent all year. Jake Oettinger had a record of 37-11-11 with a 2.37 GAA and .919 SV%. He ranked seventh in GAA, tied for fifth in SV%, and tied for second in shutouts among all goalies in the league. Oettinger was good in games one and two in the series. He allowed three goals on a whopping 48 shots faced in game one and he allowed three goals on 26 shots faced in a game two victory. With Fleury struggling so much in game two, look for the Wild to go back to Filip Gustavsson in game three. Gustavsson started game one and was excellent in the net, stopping 51 out of 53 shots faced. During the season, Gustavsson had a record of 22-9-7 with a 2.10 GAA and .931 SV%. The under has hit in four of the last five meetings between these two teams. This will be a lower-scoring game and the under will hit.

Take the under, 5.5 goals.

Prediction: Under 5.5

Growing up, James was fascinated with watching sports, especially football, and basketball. This led to an interest in research and stats for fantasy sports, which quickly led to a successful career as a sports bettor. His passion has produced multiple tournament wins with generous earnings and he has combined that with his talented writing skills to join our team here at StatSalt. James graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Business and has used his overall knowledge of sports betting to make him one to follow each and every day.