Two teams headed for the Stanley Cup Playoffs are set to collide later tonight, with the Minnesota Wild visiting the New Jersey Devils.
All Odds Courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook
Minnesota Wild (+140) vs. New Jersey Devils (-170) Total: 5.5 (O-134, U+110)Both the Wild and Devils have continued to exceed expectations this season and are in the running for their respective division titles. This will be the second matchup between these clubs, which initially saw the Wild post a 3-2 victory. The Devils are listed as home favorites on the moneyline tonight at -170, while the Wild are priced at +140. Minnesota enters this matchup with 88 points, while the Devils sit with 97.
The Minnesota Wild are playing great hockey and making a run at the Central division crown. They’ve posted a 7-1-2 record over their past ten games and found a lot of consistency in March. On the other hand, the Devils are sitting at 5-3-2 over that same sample size and continue to sit one point behind Carolina for the division lead.
Looking toward the projected goalie matchup tonight, the visiting Wild are expected to continue riding Filip Gustavsson, while the Devils should do the same with Vitek Vanecek. The Wild’s netminder has continued to surprise many people this season, posting a 17-9-5 record, paired with a .929 save percentage. Vanecek has also been solid in his debut campaign with the Devils, owning a 29-8-3 record and a .909 save percentage.
The Devils and Wild are both very high-quality teams, but with how Minnesota has been playing entering this game, there’s a lot to like about targeting them here. They’ve already defeated New Jersey, and there’s simply too much value in backing their moneyline price of +140 not to look in their direction tonight.
Best Bet: Wild moneyline (+140)
The first matchup between these clubs saw five total goals scored, with tonight’s total being set at 5.5. The over is priced at -134, while the under is at +110. Minnesota and New Jersey both sit inside the top five in the NHL in goals allowed per game, meaning it makes sense that a low total is set for this game. Over the Wild’s past five games, they’ve seen six or more goals scored in all five contests, while the Devils have seen that transpire three times. Despite their underlying numbers, it’s difficult to look away from the recent trends here, meaning backing the over is what we’ve landed on in this contest.
Best Bet: Over 5.5 (-134)
There’s a lot of young talent in this matchup on both sides of the equation, which should make these teams stick as quality teams moving forward. The Wild need more secondary scoring, and they’ve started to get some from Matt Boldy, who leads the team with five goals and four assists over their past five games. The second-year forward is growing into a point producer in front of our eyes, and he’s been a significant reason why the team has found much more success of late. Knowing that, targeting Boldy to light the lamp tonight has a lot of value at +215.
Best Prop: Matt Boldy to Record Over 0.5 Goals (+215)
