Minnesota Wild vs Nashville Predators Betting Picks

Minnesota finished last season 46-24-12, and Nashville 38-34-10, an 18-point gap in the standings, and both teams open their new season tonight. Minnesota scored 272 goals and allowed 240, which put it 32 goals ahead of its opponents. Nashville scored 247 and allowed 269, which left it 22 goals behind. Minnesota opens without defenseman Brock Faber, who had 51 points and averaged 24:40 a game last season and is on injured reserve, and without goalie Filip Gustavsson, who is on injured reserve after offseason hip surgery. Jesper Wallstedt is expected to start in his place, and he posted a .916 save percentage in 35 games last season, 33 of them starts, compared with .904 for Gustavsson in 50. Nashville is expected to go with Juuse Saros, who finished last season at .894 over 59 starts. More of the money than of the tickets is on Minnesota. Minnesota is the right side tonight.

Minnesota still has a shot at catching Dallas for second place in the Central Division after winning four of its past five games. The Wild have won five of seven meetings with Nashville and 10 of 15 April games dating back to last season. The Predators come off a 4-1 loss to Utah on Thursday, and their top defenseman, Roman Josi, was out due to an upper-body injury and is now listed as day-to-day. Jesper Wallstedt is the likely starter for Minnesota, and he is 17-8-6 with a 2.65 goals-against average and four shutouts this season. He has won his past three starts while stopping 76 of 81 shots. The OVER is 12-5 in the past 17 meetings, and the last five at Nashville have gone OVER. Minnesota has gone OVER five of its past six games, and 15 of its past 20 road games have gone OVER. Take the Wild and the OVER.

Minnesota finally snapped a five-game slide with a convincing 5-2 victory over Vancouver on Saturday. Marco Rossi scored the go-ahead goal in the second period, and Vladimir Tarasenko had a goal and two assists to back Filip Gustavsson, who had 26 saves for the Wild. Nashville ended a three-game skid with a 4-2 win over Calgary, but then the Predators lost again, 5-4 in overtime to Vancouver last night. The Predators are 1-10 in their past 11 games in the fourth game of a 4-in-6 days situation, and they are 1-6 against teams that scored at least five goals in their previous game. The Wild have won 40 of 55 home games versus opponents with road winning percentages of less than .400. Nashville is 5-15 in its past 20 against the Western Conference, going 2-8 versus the Central Division. Justus Annunen is probable for the Predators. He is 0-2-0 with a 4.07 goals-against average. Take the Wild.