Wild vs Predators Prediction, Stream, Odds and Picks
Minnesota Eyeing 22nd Road Win
Nashville’s bid to make it into the playoffs for the ninth season in a row ended on a night when the Predators didn’t hit the ice. Winnipeg’s win over Minnesota on Tuesday eliminated the Predators from playoff contention. Now they finish the season against Minnesota and Colorado, two of the seven teams in the Western Conference with more than 100 points.
Each of the Predators’ last three games finished under the total with just five goals scored in those three contests.
Minnesota’s bid to win the Central Division took a major hit with Tuesday’s loss to Winnipeg. The Wild’s lone goal came early in the third period by Kirill Kaprizov.
Minnesota is fifth in the NHL in points percentage since the start of March despite ranking 27th on the power play. That is still two spots ahead of Nashville, so keep that in mind when making NHL picks.
When looking at some of the NHL news, forward Marcus Johansson, Mason Shaw, and Sam Steel are all questionable for Minnesota. Ryan Hartman is suspended for one game while the Wild are already playing without forward Joel Eriksson Ek.
Nashville continues to play without forwards Matt Duchene, Ryan Johansen and Filip Forsberg as well as defensemen Roman Josi and Jeremy Lauzon.
According to the NHL playoff odds, the Wild (+2200) are tied for fourth in the odds to win the Stanley Cup title. The Predators are well back at +20000 in the championship odds.
A Big Piece Returns to Action
Kirill Kaprizov was on pace to make a run at a 50-goal season before he missed a month of action.
Kaprizov returned to the ice in a 5-3 win over St. Louis on Saturday. After being held without a goal or an assist, he got back to lighting the lamp with his 40th goal in Tuesday’s loss to Winnipeg.
He’s back and we love him dearly #mnwildpic.twitter.com/JlSUuiwBlM
— x – Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) April 12, 2023
Kaprizov is far from the only key Minnesota player to miss time this season. Eight of the 13 players with at least 20 points have missed at least 14 games. Still, the Wild had been fighting it out with Dallas and Colorado for the Central Division title.
Tuesday’s loss locked Minnesota into third place in the division. The Wild will open the first round of the playoffs at either Dallas or Colorado.
Six of the last nine games that Minnesota has played against Central Division teams went over the NHL betting lines total.
Big Shoes to Fill
Nashville has been without its top scorer and best player for the last 13 games and struggled to string wins together without star defenseman Roman Josi.
Josi still leads the Predators with 59 points and 41 assists despite not playing since March 18. During that time, Nashville is 7-6 and has been outscored 36-29.
During that stretch, Nashville’s defensemen are a combined -8 with no goals on the power play. Tyson Barrie did contribute two goals and six assists. However, the true value of Josi to Nashville’s success was painfully evident in the games that he missed.
The Las Vegas odds total has gone under in four of the last five games played by the Predators.
Wild vs Predators Game Injuries
Wild vs Predators Head-to-Head
Nashville has won 11 of the last 14 matchups with Minnesota and is 9-1 in the last 10 games at home against Minnesota.
Each of the last three games was decided by one goal with the Wild winning two of those contests. That includes a 4-3 win on Feb. 19 thanks to a pair of Kaprizov goals.
Five of the last six games between the teams finished over the total. Just three of the last 10 games in the series played in Nashville have gone over the total.
Wild vs Predators Game Information
- Game: Wild (46-25-10) vs Predators (41-31-8)
- Location: Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, TN
- Day/Time: Thursday, April 13, 8:00 p.m. ET
- Wild vs Predators Live stream:NHL.TV
Wild vs Predators Betting Lines
Wild vs Predators Picks and Prediction
The Predators and Wild are going to have a hard time topping what transpired the last time the teams played. Nino Niederreiter scored a goal that appeared to be sending the game into overtime. However, 22 seconds after Nashville tied the game and with just 21 seconds to go in the third period, Hartman scored the game-winning goal.
Nashville is 7-2-1 in its last 10 games decided by one goal while Minnesota is 1-0-4 in its last five one-goal affairs.
When making NHL predictions, keep in mind that Minnesota is 38-18-6 when listed as the favorite. Nashville is 20-24-5 as the underdog by the NHL odds.
The Wild have covered in 22 of their first 40 road games. Nashville is 20-19 covering the spread at home against the NHL lines.
The Minnesota Wild is listed at -110 in our Las Vegas hockey odds. This means that if you wager $100 on the Wild, you have a chance to win $91. Nashville is -110, offering a chance to win $91 on a $100 wager.
The implied probability attached to the betting lines gives the Minnesota Wild a 52.38% chance to win, with the Nashville Predators at 52.38%.
