Two Western Conference teams will get together on the ice Saturday afternoon. The Minnesota Wild will play at the Nashville Predators. Minnesota is 44-24- 8 coming into their Thursday night affair. The Wild are second in the Central Division, and also second in all of the Eastern Conference. The Wild have fallen several points behind Chicago.
For Nashville, they are seeking their 40th win of the season. The Predators are 39-26- 11 on the season. After a St. Louis Blues win on Wednesday night, the Predators dropped to fourth in the Central. The Predators would start the postseason with a road series at the Chicago Blackhawks if the postseason started today. The Predators are -115 in the NHL lines against the Wild in this game.
Minnesota at Nashville Hockey Betting Lines & Pick
When: Saturday April 1st, 2017; 1:00pm CT
Where: Bridgestone Arena; Nashville, TN
TV: FSN, FSSM, NHL Center Ice
Stream: NHL.tvRadio: Minnesota / NashvilleNHL Odds: Nashville Predators at -115
Why Bet on Minnesota Wild?
The Minnesota Wild spent much of the first half of the season as the best team in the Western Conference. Unfortunately, since then, Minnesota has struggled. The Wild came into Thursday’s affair against the Senators, as losers of four straight games. Minnesota ranks in the Top 10 in both goals scored and goals allowed.
The Wild are led in scoring by center Mikael Granlund. He leads the team with 25 goals scored, and 41 assists. Minnesota is 11th in the league in power play, and 10th in penalty kill. The Wild are likely to reach 100 points this season, after recording just 87 last season.
Why Bet on Nashville Predators?
The Nashville Predators are in a dog fight with the St. Louis Blues for the third place spot in the Central Division. The team that finishes third will play Minnesota, with the other team playing either the Blackhawks or the Pacific Division. The Predators are scoring just shy of 3.0 goals per game.
The leading scorer for Nashville this season has been center Ryan Johansen. He has scored just 13 goals, but dished out 45 assists. The Predators recorded 96 points last season, and 104 the previous season.
Betting Score & Prediction
These two Western Conference teams are both heading to the postseason, and could possibly meet in the first round of the postseason. They know each other well, so no result in this series would surprise me. Nashville has a little more to play for, and if they want a match with the Wild in the postseason, a win would help a bunch.
Look for both teams to struggle to score. Neither team is great offensively. In the end, the home ice of the Nashville Predators will get the job done. When you are betting on this game, bet on the Nashville Predators -115 over the Minnesota Wild on Saturday.
