Stars vs Wild Game 4 Prediction, Stream, Odds and Picks Apr 23

Dallas Looks To Bounce Back from Game 3 Loss

The Minnesota Wild moved two wins away from capturing the franchise’s first playoff series since 2015 with a dominating win over the visiting Dallas Stars.

Mats Zuccarello scored twice for Minnesota. However, the key to the win was the special teams play. Dallas was 5 for 11 on the power play while splitting the first two games. Minnesota killed off the two Dallas power plays while Marcus Foligno scored the go-ahead goal on the power play.

There were 49 shots on goal in Game 3, a far cry from the 101 in the double-overtime affair in the series opener. A tighter-checking game would seem to favor Minnesota and that is something to keep in mind for those making NHL picks.

When looking at some of the NHL news, it is uncertain when Joe Pavelski will return for Dallas. He will not travel with the team to Minnesota and is expected to miss the next two games.

Defenseman John Klingberg returned to the ice and had two assists after missing the first two games. Center Joel Eriksson Ek was also in the lineup for the Wild. However, he was injured on his first shift and did not return. He is questionable for Game 4.

According to the NHL playoff odds, Dallas moved from +1400 to +2000 in the odds to win the Stanley Cup title. Minnesota’s championship odds now sit at +2500.

Forwards Roope Hintz, Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin, Jason Robertson and Wyatt Johnston combined for five goals, five assists and 19  shots on goal in a Game 2 victory. It was a much  different deal when the series shifted to Minnesota.

They combined for nine shots and did not factor in the lone goal for the Stars in Friday’s 5-1 loss as it was Luke Glendening, who had one goal over his last 57 games, who scored to pull Dallas within a goal in the second period.

Those five players combined for 11 of the 14 goals against Minnesota during the four games in the regular season and will look to bounce back in Game 4.

Four of the last six games played by Dallas finished over the NHL betting lines total as have the last five road games.

Eight Was Enough

With center Joel Eriksson Ek’s return to the lineup lasting all of 19 seconds before he was knocked out of Game 3, Minnesota’s depth at forward was tested.

Three of the remaining 11 forwards played less than 12 minutes. Led by Kirill Kapizov’s 22:10 time on ice and the nearly 20 minutes played by Matthew Boldy, the Wild relied on eight forwards to reclaim control of the season.

While that might not be a recipe for a deep run in the playoffs, considering that Minnesota has dropped its last seven playoff series, going with quality over quantity might be the way for the Wild to advance in the postseason for the first time in nearly a decade.

Zuccarello and Ryan Hartman (one goal, two assists) led the offense while they helped limit Dallas to 24 shots against goalie Filip Gustavsson and just two shots on the two power plays.

ZUCCY SAID I'M NOT DONE YET ��������#mnwild x #GritFirstpic.twitter.com/aSIPWbJaei

— x – Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) April 22, 2023

The Las Vegas odds total has gone over in five of the last seven games played by the Wild.

Stars vs Wild Game Injuries

Stars vs Wild Head-to-Head

Thanks to an empty-net goal by Hartman, Game 3 finished over the 5½-goal total. It was the second straight game to go over the total after the previous four finished under the total.

Four of the previous six meetings had been decided by one goal with the road team winning five of the last seven before a pair of four-goal wins by the home team taking both contests.

Minnesota has won five of the last seven home games against Dallas, with six of the last eight being decided by at least three goals.

Zuccarello, Hartman and Gustav Nyquist are tied for the team lead with four points for Minnesota during the first three games of the series with Nyquist topping the Wild with a +5 defensive rating. For the Stars, Hintz had four goals and defenseman Miro Heiskanen five assists.

Stars vs Wild Game Information

• Game: Stars (47-21-14 regular season) vs Wild (46-25-11)
• Location: Xcel Center, Saint Paul, MN
• Day/Time: Sunday, April 22, 6:30 p.m. ET
• Stars vs Wild Live Stream: NHL TV

Stars vs Wild Betting Lines

Stars vs Wild Picks and Prediction

It was a little more about getting down to the business of winning the series as the penalty minutes dropped from 92 in Game 2 to 20 in Game 3. There were a series-low 43 hits in the game with 26 coming from Minnesota.

Limiting the man-advantage opportunities was an obvious point of emphasis for Minnesota as the Wild players didn’t get involved in as many post-whistle scrums.

The goaltending has been surprisingly spotty in this series with the exception of Gustavsson. He has a 1.18 goals against average and .961 save percentage so keep an eye on what happens between the pipes because Minnesota coach Dean Evason went to Marc-Andre Fleury after Gustavsson’s brilliant Game 1 before and that did not end well for the Wild. Jake Oettinger has won his last five games following a loss for Dallas.

When making NHL predictions, keep in mind that Dallas is 26-16 against the spread on the road while Minnesota covered against the NHL betting lines in 13 of 42 home games.

Minnesota is 38-18-6 when listed as the favorite by the NHL odds with Dallas 9-12-5 as the underdog.

The Minnesota Wild is listed at -120 in our Las Vegas hockey odds. This means that if you wager $100 on the Wild, you have a chance to win $83. Dallas is Ev, offering a chance to win $100 on a $100 wager.

The implied probability attached to the betting lines gives the Minnesota Wild a 54.55% chance to win, with the Dallas Stars at 50%.