Will the Wild live up to their favourite status?

“One more to go, one more to go in!” That’s pretty much how the Red Wings’ last few games have gone, with pucks mostly hitting their own net. 7:10 and 2:9 were just two of their last three home game results, which already says everything about their current form.

All the more surprising, then, that the Red Wings have had the occasional slip up in between, such as the 4:3 against the Hurricanes or the away win at the Rangers – both really strong teams this season.

However, it would be a big surprise if Detroit does it again against the Minnesota Wild – another future playoff team. The Red Wings also have a disastrous record against the Wild, losing the last two meetings 1:7 and 4:7.

That’s why in Red Wings vs Wild, our prediction is not only a Minnesota win, but also one that should see another goal or two scored. Detroit conceding less than four goals is not likely.

Detroit Red Wings – Statistics & current form

The Red Wings are probably one of the most entertaining teams right now – if you’re not necessarily a fan of the franchise. Because they regularly slap their hands in front of their faces with results like 5:8, 7:10 or most recently 2:9 at home against the Arizona Coyotes.

They also had a recent high-scoring experience with the Minnesota Wild, losing 4-7 in their arena less than four weeks ago. So it could well come to a déjà vu on Friday night.

Greiss and Nedeljkovic underground

With such results, of course, the goalkeepers are quickly questioned – and in this case, quite rightly. It is not the case that the Wings simply allow an incredible number of shots and therefore concede so many goals.

With 32.9 shots allowed per game, there are even seven teams behind Detroit. The Coyotes needed only 30 shots for their nine goals. Greiss had a save percentage of 33.3% at the end. That is absolutely not NHL-worthy.

Offensive the only bright spot

It almost gets lost a little that Detroit hasn’t been that bad offensively lately. In the last 19 games, the Red Wings always scored at least one goal, 17 times even more than two. That should be enough for more wins, but we have already talked about the weak defence.

So of course the odds are again in favour of the Red Wings for Thursday’s game against Detroit vs. Minnesota. With this high conceded goal rate, a combination with over-points also seems to be highly recommended.

Key Players:
G: Alex Nedeljkovic
D: Nick Leddy
D: Moritz Seider
LW: Filip Zadina
C: Dylan Larkin
RW: Lucas Raymond

Minnesota Wild – Statistics & current form

The Minnesota Wild have regained some composure recently and the 5-2 win against the strong Rangers was a step in the right direction. However, the Norsemen lost seven of their last ten games and thus also lost sight of the top of their division.

Nevertheless, with a five-point lead and two games in hand, nothing should stand in the way of play-off qualification. Moreover, they now have two doable tasks ahead of them in the form of the Red Wings and the Blue Jackets.

Drive of the first half of the season somewhat lost

However, Minnesota is not quite as good as they were at the beginning of the season, when they even led the Central Division at times. Recently, however, they even lost to the Senators and the Sabres – both bottom-5 teams in the NHL.

There is a small parallel to the Red Wings, because offensively the Wild are not doing badly. Defensively, however, they often lose the ground completely. In the last few weeks, they also conceded six goals twice and seven goals once – far too many for a top team.

Against Detroit in all respects

The duel with the Red Wings comes just in time for them. Compared to Detroit, they not only score more goals per game (3.71 to 2.84), but also concede less (3.20 to 3.70). However, these last two figures show very nicely that we can expect a high-scoring game.

Together, the goals against average is 6.90. Therefore, a bet on over 5.5 or even over 6.5 should be possible for Red Wings vs. Wild. Since we firmly believe in a Minnesota victory, the combination with a win bet is our No.1 betting option.

Key Players:
G: Cam Talbot
D: Jonas Brodin
D: Jared Spurgeon
LW: Kirill Kaprizov
C: Ryan Hartman
RW: Mats Zuccarello

Detroit Red Wings – Minnesota Wild Direct Comparison / H2H-Balance

We already briefly addressed the fact that the Wild’s record against Detroit doesn’t look all that bad. Five of the last six head-to-head duels have gone to Minnesota, with the goal difference in those games standing at 27:15 – so quite clear.

It becomes even clearer if we take just the last two games. In these meetings alone, the Red Wings conceded 14 goals to the Wild. It would be surprising if they could keep a clean sheet on Thursday.

So the odds on the Wild in Detroit against Minnesota are worth considering even with a handicap of -1.5. Even more “value”, however, are combined bets of a Minnesota win + over 5.5 total goals.

Detroit Red Wings – Minnesota Wild Tip

The Minnesota Wild have not been in the best form of late, but they are still much stronger than the Red Wings. Detroit conceded an average of 6.2 goals in their last five games – making wins almost impossible.

Thus, for Red Wings against Wild, a bet on Minnesota + Over 5.5 goals is our clear betting recommendation. Also pure win bets on the Wild or on over-points are possible, as both options are very likely.

Alternatively, bets on a goal by Kirill Kaprizov are also worth considering. Kaprizov has scored four goals in his last three games and is the Wild’s most prolific striker overall.