Florida Panthers vs Minnesota Wild Prediction NHL Picks 12/18/24

The Florida Panthers and the Minnesota Wild meet Tuesday in NHL action from the Xcel Energy Center. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for this game. Here’s a Florida Panthers vs. Minnesota Wild prediction.

Florida Panthers Recap

The Florida Panthers come into this game looking to build on a 6-5 win over the Edmonton Oilers last time out. After this game, Florida will head home for a date with the St. Louis Blues.

Panthers Looking To Finish With Winning Record On West Coast Road Trip

Sam Reinhart has a team-high 41 points including 20 goals and 21 assists while Sam Bennett has 27 points with 13 goals and 14 assists and Anton Lundell has 21 points of his own with 8 goals and 13 assists. Aleksander Barkov also has 29 points with 20 assists of his own while Carter Verhaeghe has 25 points with 9 goals and 16 assists and Matthew Tkachuk has 31 points with 11 goals and 20 assists. Sergei Bobrovsky is 14-6-1 with a 2.97 GAA and an .889 save percentage while Spencer Knight is 5-5-1 with a 2.85 GAA and a .890 save percentage in goal for Florida this season.

Why the Florida Panthers will win

• The favorites have won each of the Wild’s last nine games at Xcel Energy Center.
• The Wild have lost each of their last eight games as home underdogs.
• The Wild have failed to cover the puck line in four of their last five night games at Xcel Energy Center.
• The Panthers have covered the puck line in each of their last four games against the Wild following a road win.

Minnesota Wild Recap

The Minnesota Wild come into this one looking to rebound from a 3-2 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights last time out. After this game, Minnesota will duke it out with the Utah Hockey Club and Winnipeg.

Wild Looking For Consistency

Kirill Kaprizov leads the Wild with 47 points including a team-high 22 goals and 25 assists while Matt Boldy has 29 points including 13 goals and 16 assists. Marco Rossi has 25 points with 11 goals and 14 assists while Mats Zuccarello has 17 points with 6 goals and 11 assists. Brock Faber also has 17 points with 14 assists of his own this season. Filip Gustavsson has gone 14-5-3 with a 2.24 GAA and a .922 save percentage in goal for Minnesota while Marc-Andre Fleury is 6-1-1 with a 2.51 GAA and a .909 save percentage on the year.

Why the Minnesota Wild will win

• The Wild have won each of their last eight night games against Atlantic Division opponents.
• The Panthers have lost four of their last six games as road favorites.
• The Wild have covered the puck line in each of their last eight Wednesday games as home underdogs.
• The Panthers have failed to cover the puck line in five of their last six games as road favorites.

Panthers vs. Wild Prediction

I’m on the Panthers here. I think it’s telling that Florida’s favored on the road despite Minnesota having a stellar record overall this season and it’s because Minnesota’s excelled on the road for much of the season. Florida’s record is slightly better away from home as well and the offense looks like it’s woken up after back-to-back shutouts. I’ll roll with Florida in this one.