The Vegas Golden Knights are visiting the Minnesota Wild on Thursday, May 1st at the Xcel Energy Center in Game 6 of this Western Conference Quarterfinal. The Golden Knights lead the series by 3-2 wins and the winner of this series will face the winner of the Oilers vs Kings matchup in the semifinals. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for this game. Here’s a Golden Knights vs Wild Prediction. We will examine:
The Minnesota Wild recent form and player performance
The Vegas Golden Knights recent form and player performance
Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Minnesota Wild
Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Vegas Golden Knights
Recent betting trends in games played between the Vegas Golden Knights vs Minnesota Wild
A summary that ties it all together and produces a favorable betting outcome for Vegas Golden Knights vs Minnesota Wild game
Minnesota Wild Preview
The Minnesota Wild finished the regular season with 97 points with a 47-31-9 record were placed third in the Central. They have a 27-13-3 home record and are 43-44 against the spread and 39-44 in over/under. The Wild are coming off a 2-3 road defeat in overtime against the Golden Knights, dropping their second consecutive game in the series, after being up 2-1 wins. The Wild are 4-1 in their last 5 home games and are 4-1 to the over in their last 5 games.
Offensively in the postseason, the Wild are averaging 3.40 goals per game and are scoring 27.3% of their power play opportunities. Defensively, the Wild are allowing 3.00 goals per game and are killing 71.4% of their opponent’s power plays. Kirill Kaprizov leads Minnesota with 9 points in the post season, adding a team-high 5 goals and 4 assists. Matt Boldy follows with 7 points and 5 goals. Filip Gustavsson is likely in net for the Wild, and he has 2.63 GAA and 91.9% saving percentage in the postseason.
Vegas Golden Knights Preview
The Vegas Golden Knights finished the regular season with 110 points with a 53-24-10 record were placed first in the Pacific. They have a 22-14-7 road record and are 49-38 against the spread and 41-42-4 in over/under. The Golden Knights are coming off a 3-2 road victory over the Minnesota Wild in overtime, and now have back-to-back wins, having taken the 3-2 lead in the series. Over is 6-2 in their last 8 games, and are 2-3 in their last 5 road games.
Offensively in the postseason, the Golden Knights are averaging 3.00 goals per game and are scoring 28.5% of their power play opportunities. Defensively, the Golden Knights are allowing 3.40 goals per game and are killing 72.7% of their opponent’s power plays. Thomas Hertl leads Vegas in the postseason with 5 points and a team-high 3 goals. Adin Hill is likely in net for the Golden Knights, and he has 3.00 GAA and an 86.5% saving percentage in the postseason.
Why the Minnesota Wild will win
- The Golden Knights have lost seven of their last eight games as road favorites against opponents on a losing streak.
- The Wild have won three of their last four games as home underdogs.
- The underdogs have covered the puck line in each of the Wild’s last seven games at Xcel Energy Center.
- The Golden Knights have failed to cover the puck line in 11 of their last 12 games as road favorites against opponents on a losing streak.
- The Wild have won the third period in four of their last five games against Western Conference opponents when trailing after the second period.
Why the Vegas Golden Knights will win
- The Golden Knights have won each of their last five night games after coming off overtime.
- The Wild have lost eight of their last 10 games after coming off overtime.
- The Wild have failed to cover the puck line in eight of their last nine home games after coming off overtime.
- The Golden Knights have covered the puck line in each of their last three games against opponents on a losing streak.
- The Golden Knights have won the third period in each of their last seven games as favorites against Western Conference opponents when tied after the second period.
Total Goals Facts
- Each of the Golden Knights’ last six games after coming off overtime have gone UNDER the total goals line.
- Five of the last six games between the Golden Knights and Wild have gone OVER the total goals line.
- The ‘Over 1.5 Goals Period 1’ market has hit in each of the Wild’s last six games.
- The ‘Over 1.5 Goals Period 3′ market has hit in each of the Golden Knights’ last eight games following a home win.
Matchup/League Facts
- The Minnesota Wild rank 30th in the league in penalty kill percentage this season (72.41%).
- The Minnesota Wild rank 25th in the league for goals per game this season (2.74).
- The Vegas Golden Knights rank 2nd in the league in power play percentage this season (28.34%).
- The Vegas Golden Knights rank 3rd in the league for goals against per game this season (2.61).
Golden Knights vs Wild Prediction
The Golden Knights are 6-2 in their 8 meetings against the Wild this season, and are 3-1 in their 4 meetings in Minnesota. Over is 5-1 in their last 6 overall meetings, and 3-0 in their last 3 meetings in Minnesota.
In this Golden Knights vs Wild Prediction, Vegas is coming as big -165 road favorites. The Golden Knights are rightfully favored, as they have been the better team this season, and have been owning the Wild both in their overall meetings and in Minnesota, but laying that juice against a good home team in the brink of elimination is something I’m not willing to do. The Wild will fight hard in this game to avoid elimination at home court, they have won two games outright in this season, and have covered the puckline in two more.
All in all, the Wild +1.5 bet is 4-1 in this series. Lay the juice, play it safe and get the Minnesota Wild by +1.5 in this one.