Detroit Red Wings vs. Minnesota Wild Prediction, Preview, and Odds
Detroit (16-14-4, 20-13-1 O/U) travels to Minnesota (15-13-4, 16-14-2 O/U) to take on the Wild on Wednesday night at 8pmET from Xcel Energy Center.
These teams last met on Nov. 26 with the Red Wings winning 4-1 as a -105 money line favorite.
Nice break for Detroit
The Red Wings have not played since Dec. 23 when they fell to the New Jersey Devils 3-2 on the road. That was the second of a back-to-back after beating Philadelphia 7-6 in a shootout. They come out after a short break having lost five of their last six games. Defense has been a problem as Detroit has allowed 18 goals over their last four games.
Goaltender James Reimer is 8-5-1 with a 2.45 GAA and a .921 save percentage in his career against the Wild. The 35-year-old is expected to be in net tonight for the Red Wings. He's 3-5-2 with a 3.16 goals against average and a .897 save percentage in 11 games with nine starts this season.
RW Alex DeBrincat leads Detroit in points with 15 goals and 17 assists (32 pts), while center Dylan Larkin adds 12 goals and 17 assists (29pts). Overall, Detroit is averaging 3.5 goals per game (5th), 30.1 shots (20th) and they are 21.6% on the power play (15th). Defensively, they rank 21st in goals allowed per game (3.3), 25th in shots against (32.1) and 18th in penalty kill percentage (79.5%).
Trying to stay hot
Before their mini-break, Minnesota had won three straight and six of their last seven games. On Dec. 23, they edged Boston 3-2 at home as a +121 money line underdog. All three wins in their streak have been by one goal. Minnesota is also 10-3 since they fired coach Dean Evason and replaced him with John Hynes.
Minnesota is expected to go to Filip Gustavsson in goal tonight. He's 9-8-2 with a 2.90 GAA and a .904 save percentage in 20 starts this season. In three starts in his career against Detroit, he is 1-2 with a 2.05 GAA and a .906 save percentage.
The Wild are led by LW Kiril Kaprizov, who has 12 goals and 19 assists for 31 points. RW Mats Zuccarello adds six goals and 22 assists to rank second on the team in points with 28. Minnesota ranks 20th in goals per game with 3.0 per game, 22nd in shots (30.1) and 23rd in power play percentage (18.1%). On defense, they are allowing 3.2 goals per game (18th), 30.6 shots per game (16th) and they rank 30th on the penalty kill (726%).
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Full-Game Side Bet
Rating:
Minnesota has been a different team since John Hynes took over. They are 10-3 and also have won six of their last seven games with Hynes as the head coach. They also have the better goaltender as Riemer has seen his better days for the Red Wings. Detroit is also not playing well, having lost five of six and they've won just two games in their last 10. They just aren't doing the job on the defensive end.
Prediction: Minnesota -142
Full-Game Total Pick
Rating:
Detroit has been poor on the defensive end. They've allowed 14 goals over their last three games and 18 in their last four. Minnesota has scored 3 or more goals in four straight games and seven of their last eight. They are the worst in the league on the penalty kill, while Detroit is fifth in the league in scoring at 3.5 goals per game. Detroit is also 21st in the league in goals allowed per game so expect both teams to score at least three goals in this one.
Prediction: Over
Ben has been a sports writer for over 35 years, dabbling in college and pro basketball, college and pro football, baseball, college lacrosse, minor league baseball and even college gymnastics. He's also been involved in the gaming industry for nearly 30 years and has been looking to beat the books since he was 13! Ben has had great success in handicapping college football, the NFL, college basketball, the NBA and MLB for 27+ years. His Twitter handle is @BenHayesWAW
