New York Rangers (1-0) vs. Minnesota Wild (0-0)
October 13, 2022 8:00 pm EDT
The Line: Minnesota Wild -125 / New York Rangers +115; Over/Under: +6
(Get latest betting odds)
The New York Rangers and the Minnesota Wild meet in NHL action from the Xcel Energy Center on Thursday night.
The New York Rangers will try to build on their 3-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning to start the year on the right foot. Mika Zibanejad led the Rangers with a pair of goals in the opener and Barclay Goodrow added a goal of his own. Six different Rangers each recorded an assist as well in the win for the Rangers. Zibanejad also had a team-high 9 shots while Jacob Trouba added 6 shots as well. Igor Shesterkin got the win in goal and has a 1-0 record with a 1.00 GAA and a .962 save percentage this season.
The Minnesota Wild will look to take a step forward in 2022-23, finishing last year with a record of 53-22-7 and ending up 2nd in the Central division. The Wild’s stay in the postseason was short-lived as they lost to the Blues in six games, failing to make it out of the first round for the sixth straight postseason. The Wild are basically running it back with the bulk of the squad from last year’s squad, led by Kirill Kaprizov who had a team-high 108 points, 47 goals and 61 assists last season. Kevin Fiala went out west to L.A., but Mats Zuccarello’s back after logging 55 assists as part of his 79 points last year while Ryan Hartman had 65 points with 34 goals. Marc-Andre Fleury returns as the prize acquisition for Minnesota at the trade deadline, taking over in the crease after posting a 9-2 record in 11 regular season starts after being picked up by Minnesota last year.
New York is 1-4 in their last 5 games overall and 1-6 in their last 7 road games while the under is 6-0 in their last 6 games overall. Minnesota is 52-18 in their last 70 home games and 21-9 in their last 30 games overall while the under is 4-0 in their last 4 games against a team with a winning percentage above .600.
I get the case to be made on either side in this one, but I’m looking at the Rangers here. Minnesota’s a tough out at home, but this Rangers team looked really good defensively in their opener and I have high hopes for Igor Shesterkin once again this season. I think it’s going to take the Wild a bit of time to get going and I look for this to be a low-scoring, first to 3 wins kind of game. Give me the under.
