Minnesota Wild vs Vegas Golden Knights Betting Picks

Minnesota is a team worthy of respect, especially now, having ace defenseman Quinn Hughes to go with excellent goaltending. But if the Golden Knights perform the way they did against Colorado this past Saturday, they likely will win this home game by multiple goals. Despite not having Jack Eichel and Shea Theodore, the Golden Knights nearly upset the Avalanche. They lost, 6-5, in a shootout after leading by two goals entering the third period. Eichel is day-to-day recovering from illness. Theodore remains out. But Las Vegas displayed excellent depth against the league's top team. It was an encouraging sign given that the Golden Knights were 1-3 in their last four games entering Christmas break. The Wild edged the Jets, 4-3, in overtime on the road two days ago in their first game out of Christmas break. Minnesota had lost its previous two games, 3-2 in overtime to the Predators as a $1.71 home favorite and 5-1 to Colorado as a $1.51 home underdog. Take the Golden Knights on the puckline.

Vegas has won seven of the past eight meetings at Minnesota and nine of 11 against the Wild overall. The Golden Knights snapped a four-game skid with an impressive 4-1 victory over St. Louis on Saturday night. Akira Schmid stopped 23 of 24 shots for the Knights and right wing Braeden Bowman scored his first NHL goal. The Knights have won five of six playing on no rest and they are 12-3 against teams with losing records. Minnesota defeated Anaheim 2-0 last night and the Wild are 2-5 playing with zero days rest. The Wild have won only five of 11 home contests this season. Filip Gustavsson is expected to start and he is 4-7-2 with a 3.08 goals-against average for Minnesota. The Wild have averaged 2.6 goals their past five games. Take the Golden Knights.

Vegas has all the momentum after winning two in a row in overtime and the Golden Knights can advance to the second round with a victory in Game 6. They got a break when an apparent go-ahead goal by Minnesota center Ryan Hartman was rightly overturned due to offsides and the Knights went on to win when Brett Howden scored 4:05 into the extra session. Vegas is 4-1 its past five playoff games as a favorite of -151 to -200 and it has gone OVER four of five. The Knights also are 5-1 OVER in the playoffs with those odds dating to last season. The OVER is 4-1-1 in the Wild's past six games against teams that allowed two or fewer goals their previous game. Take the Golden Knights and the OVER.

Minnesota has leaned on its defense all year to keep games close, and now they're getting massive contributions from the top line of Eriksson Ek (1A), Boldy (4G, 2A), and Kaprizov (4G, 4A). In the last three games, they beat Vegas twice, 5-2 and 5-2, while losing the last game in overtime, 4-3. The Wild was 23-13-5 on the road this season and are getting great value tonight as they head to Vegas in a 2-2 tie. Minnesota's defense is 15th in goals given up and fifth in save percentage (.908). Filip Gustavsson has a .919 save percentage in the playoffs, and 2.58 GAA. The Golden Knights are on a 7-6 run, losing four times as a favorite, along with four victories by one goal. Vegas ranked 26th in penalty killing, and they've allowed two power-play goals this series. I'm backing Minnesota to pull an upset.