NHL Odds, Preview, Prediction: Panthers vs. Wild (February 13)

Panthers vs. Wild Odds

The Minnesota Wild secured a much needed shootout victory on Saturday night against the New Jersey Devils, putting an end to their three-game losing streak. The Wild have dropped in the standings lately and are now tied with the Calgary Flames for the second wild card spot.

Meanwhile, the Florida Panthers are trying to climb back up the standings and get themselves into the playoffs. They are three points back of the Pittsburgh Penguins, so they need all the points they can get.

Florida has been playing some really strong hockey lately — especially the second line, which consists of Carter Verhaeghe, Sam Bennett and All-Star MVP, Matthew Tkachuk. The Panthers offense has been electric over the past five games and I think Florida will ride that momentum into Minnesota.

Florida Panthers

The Florida Panthers have been the best team in the NHL when it comes to generating offense. They are averaging 15.24 high-danger chances per game and are also getting the most shots on goal per game (an average of 36.2 per night).

In their past five games, the Panthers have scored 21 goals. Tkachuk, Bennett, and Verhaeghe have exploded offensively in this span, Tkachuk has tallied two goals and nine assists, Verhaeghe has three goals along and three assists, and Bennett has three goals and two assists.

Sergei Bobrovsky is the Panthers’ expected starter, despite the fact that he allowed four goals in their previous game. Of course, he also made 45 saves in that contest. Bobrovsky’s numbers haven’t been wildly impressive this season, but he has won three of his past four starts.

The Panthers have gotten the best of the Wild in recent history, winning all four of the previous meetings between the two teams, including a 5-3 win back on January 21st in Florida.

Minnesota Wild

The Minnesota Wild have been a really difficult team to figure out this season. They have been the complete opposite of the Panthers as they have struggled to score goals latey. In their previous five games, they have only been able to score eight goals.

The Wild rely heavily on their first line to produce offense. Kirill Kaprizov has been able to find ways to score, but Mats Zuccarello and Ryan Hartman have been a tad quieter. As a team, Minnesota has only scored one goal at 5-on-5 in its past three games. The Wild are averaging 2.1 goals at even strength per game, but are underperforming their 2.42 expected goals at 5-on-5.

This team has certainly been struggling lately, but the one positive is that their goaltending has been strong, keeping them competitive in games where they haven’t found ways to score. Filip Gustavsson is the expected starter, but both he and Marc-Andre Fleury have each seen a fair amount of time in the blue paint. Gustavsson is skating to a .923 save percentage and Fleury is at a .903 SV%.

Panthers vs. Wild Pick

The Florida Panthers have been the much better team lately and have urgency on their side as they are trying to push for a playoff spot.

The goaltending battle is relatively even, so I am looking at the team that has been more consistent at 5-on-5 — the Florida Panthers.

The Wild have been much better in the special teams department, but as far as the overall game goes, the Panthers have looked like a much better team.

Florida is buzzing right now. As the Wild continue to struggle, I’m going with the hot hand and taking the Panthers.