Stars vs Wild Pick – NHL Predictions & Odds 4/25/23

The Minnesota Wild and Dallas Stars meet Tuesday in game 5 of the NHL West First Round Playoffs at the American Airlines Center. Let’s preview this game and give out a pick and prediction.

The Minnesota Wild are averaging 3.25 goals per game and are scoring on 23.5 percent of their power play opportunities. Mats Zuccarello leads Minnesota with 2 goals, Gustav Nyquist has 4 assists and Matt Boldy has 17 shots on goal. Defensively, the Minnesota Wild are allowing 3.25 goals per game and are killing 56.3 percent of their opponent’s power plays. Filip Gustavsson has allowed 6 goals on 101 shots faced, and Marc-Andre Fleury has given up 7 goals on 31 shots.

The Dallas Stars are averaging 3.25 goals per game and are scoring on 43.8 percent of their power play opportunities. Roope Hintz leads Dallas with 4 goals, Miro Heiskanen has 5 assists and Tyler Seguin has 16 shots on goal. Defensively, the Dallas Stars are allowing 3.25 goals per game and are killing 76.5 percent of their opponent’s power plays. Jake Oettinger has allowed 12 goals on 132 shots faced.

The Wild are 6-15 in their last 21 Conference Quarterfinals games and 15-5 in their last 20 games playing on 1 days rest. The Stars are 5-1 in their last 6 home games and 8-2 in their last 10 overall. The over is 6-1-2 in Wild last 9 games playing on 1 days rest. The under is 6-1-1 in Stars last 8 home games. The Wild are 12-32 in the last 44 meetings in Dallas.

It’s hard to get a feel in this series because neither team has been able to find consistency. With that said, I believe this is where it starts with the Stars at home. The Stars are killing things on the power play, and their defensive effort has been strong outside of game 3. The Stars have played their best hockey on their home ice, and we’re laying a cheap price. Give me the Stars to be the first team in this series to win back to back games.