Vegas Golden Knights vs. Minnesota Wild NHL Picks, Odds, Predictions 5/20/2021
Vegas Golden Knights (41-14-3) vs. Minnesota Wild (36-17-5)
May 20, 2021 9:30 pm EDT
The Line: Minnesota Wild +111 / Vegas Golden Knights -137; Over/Under: -5.5
(Get latest betting odds)
The Vegas Golden Knights and the Minnesota Wild meet in game three of their First Round playoff matchup in NHL action from the Xcel Energy Center on Thursday. The Golden Knights look to take a 2-1 series lead after evening the series at one win apiece following their 3-1 win over Minnesota in game two last time out.
Game 2 was scoreless after 20 minutes of play and for the first half of the second period before Matt Dumba pushed Minnesota in front at the 12:07 mark of the middle period but the lead was short-lived as Jonathan Marchessault tied the game at one for Vegas just :17 later and Alex Tuch edged Vegas in front just under five minutes later. Vegas would hold that lead until Tuch sealed the deal for Vegas with an insurance goal on the power play in the last minute of the game, pushing the score to 3-1, a score that Vegas would ride to the final horn and get on the board in the series as a result.
Marc-Andre Fleury got the win between the pipes for Vegas after stopping 34 of 35 shots faced in the winning effort while Cam Talbot took the loss in goal for Minnesota after allowing three goals on 28 shots in the defeat for the Wild.
Vegas is 8-2 in their last 10 road games and 38-13 in their last 51 games as a favorite while the under is 4-0-1 in their last 5 games overall. Minnesota is 20-6 in their last 26 home games and 10-25 in their last 35 playoff games as an underdog while the over is 7-1 in their last 8 home games. The underdog is 5-2 in the last 7 meetings between these two teams.
I’ve backed the Wild twice in this series and I’m still up from the Wild being sizeable underdogs and cashing once out of the two games but now we’re getting the Wild as a home dog, which I can’t pass up. Vegas has been awesome all year long and have beat up on teams on the road, but the Wild have been dominant at home in their own right and a lot of the recent wins from Vegas on the road have come against subpar teams like your Anaheim’s and L.A.’s of the world. I think there’s value to be had with Minnesota here so I’ll back the Wild to retake the series lead here.
