Wild vs. Canadiens prediction, odds, pick, how to watch

The Minnesota Wild continue their trip north of the border as they face the Montreal Canadiens. It is time to continue our NHL odds series with a Wild-Canadiens prediction, pick, and how-to-watch.

The Wild enter the season at 1-1 on the year. They opened the season at home with a 2-0 lead over the Florida Panthers. It was a stellar performance from Filip Gustavsson, as he saved all 41 shots he faced. Still, the next game was in Toronto. Auston Matthews scored a hattrick in the game, while William Nylander scored twice in the game as the Maple Leafs won 7-4.

The Canadiens come in at 1-1 as well on the year. In the first game of the year they lost to Toronto 6-5. In the game, Auston Matthews scored a hat trick, just as he did in his second game against the Flyer. Meanwhile, Alex Newhook scored twice for Montreal, as Cole Caufield scored his first goal of the game. Caufield would score the first goal against the Blackhawks, as the Canadiens scored three in the second period to take a 3-0 lead. They would give up two goals to Tyler Johnson but still win 3-2.

Here are the NHL Odds, courtesy of FanDuel. 

NHL Odds: Wild vs. Canadiens Odds

Minnesota Wild: -138

Montreal Canadiens: +115

Over: 6.5 (+108)

Under: 6.5 (-132)

How to Watch Wild vs. Canadiens

Time: 7:00 PM ET/ 4:00 PM PT

TV: NHLPP/ESPN+

Why The Wild Will Win

The Minnesota Wild have done a solid job of spreading out the scoring this year. Overall, 13 of the 18 players to take the ice this season have a point, but no player has more than two points this season. Joel Eriksson Ek has two points this year with a goal and an assist. The goal is on the power play this year, the Wild's only goal on the power play this year.

Meanwhile, Brock Faber has been solid this year. He has a plus-four rating with a goal and an assist this season from the defense. Still, the Wild are hoping Pat Marron and Frederick Gaudreau can step up in this game. Marron has not had points this year and has yet to take a shot. Meanwhile, Gaudreau has five shots this year but also does not have a point this year.

The Wild need to improve on a few things. First, they must be better on the power play. They have had five power play opportunities this year, with just one goal. Further, they have allowed two goals on six penalty-kill chances this year. Next, they have to get more shots off. The Wild have just 53 shots this year. They had 32 shots in the loss to Toronto, but just 21 in the win over the Panthers. Still, they have given up a ton of shots. The Wild have given up 74 shots this year, with 33 or more in each game.

The Wild will be going with Marc-Andre Fleury in this one. The 38-year-old will be making his first start of the year in goal in this one. He made 45 starts last season for the Wild with a .908 save percentage and 2.85 goals against average. He was 24-16-4 last season for the Wild.

Why The Canadiens Will Win

Like the Wild, the Canadiens have shared the point-scoring load as well. Overall, 14 of the 18 players to have taken the ice have scored a point this year. Five of the players have two points this year with two players having two goals this year. The first is Alex Newhook, who has scored twice on just four shots this year. He also has a plus-one rating on the season. Meanwhile, Cole Caufield also has two goals this year on six shots. He has an even rating this season, due to one of his goals being on the power play.

Chicago has not been great on defense this year, but it's solid enough. First, they have given up a ton of shots this year. In the first game of the year with Toronto, they gave up 42 shots, while they gave up 30 shots against Chicago. They were much better against the power play against Chicago. They stopped all seven opportunities on the Chicago power play but only stopped two of four against the Maple Leafs.

Montreal did a great job getting shots in the last game and was great on the face-off. They had 36 shots last game but just 25 in the shootout loss to Toronto. Still, the faceoff game was amazing against Chicago. They won 24 of 31 faceoffs in the game, good for 77.4 percent. They were also at 50 percent against Toronto.

Montreal is expected to start Jake Allen in goal for this game. He has made just one start this year and it was against Toronto. In the game against Tronto, he gave up five goals on 42 shots and then lost in the shootout. He had a .881 save percentage and a 4.62 goals-against average. Last year he was solid, but not great for Montreal. Allen had a .891 save percentage with a 3.55 goals-against average. He was just 15-24-3 last year, facing a flurry of shots. Montreal will need to make sure that does not happen in this game to keep Allen from struggling again in this game.

Final Wild-Canadiens Prediction & Pick

Montreal has played much better at home than on the road this year in the two games. Still, Montreal allowed too many shots late in the game against Toronto. If they do that against the Wild, players like Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek will make them play. Jake Allen has not done well with a lot of shots on goal. That means Montreal needs to slow down Minnesota, while the Wild need to keep the pressure up.

Minnesota has shown that they can do that, but the top line is where that starts. Kaprizov is second on the team in shots with six, while Ryan Hartman has five, and Mats Zuccarello has just two. Combined, they have scored just one goal. The top line is going to get pressure tonight and they will win in this one.

Final Wild-Canadiens Prediction & Pick: Minnesota Wild (-138)