Minnesota Wild (45-30-7) vs Vegas Golden Knights (50-22-10)
Game Info: Thursday, April 24, 2025 at 9:00 pm (Xcel Energy Center)
The Line: Betting Odds: Minnesota Wild +136 / Vegas Golden Knights -162 — Over/Under: 5.5
The Vegas Golden Knights and the Minnesota Wild meet Thursday 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 Vegas Golden Knights vs. Minnesota Wild prediction.
Series Recap
The Minnesota Wild got on the board in the series, stealing home ice and tying things up at one win apiece with a 5-2 win in game two on Tuesday. The Wild jumped on Vegas early, with Matt Boldy opening the scoring for Minnesota just before the midway point of the first period. Marcus Foligno doubled the lead just 1:39 later and Mats Zuccarello pushed Minnesota’s lead to 3-0 with less than three minutes to go in the first. Kirill Kaprizov made it 4-0 less than four minutes into the second before Vegas got on the board with just under eight minutes to go in the second period. Tomas Hertl cut the deficit to 4-2 early in the 3rd, but that’s as close as the Golden Knights would get as Kaprizov buried into an empty net for his 2nd goal of the game and the 5-2 final score.
Golden Knights Looking To Retake Home Ice
Jack Eichel has a team-high 94 points with 28 goals and a team-high 66 assists while Mark Stone has added 67 points with 19 goals and 48 assists. Ivan Barbashev has 51 points with 23 goals and 28 assists, Tomas Hertl has 59 points with 31 goals and 28 apples and Pavel Dorofeyev has 50 points with 33 goals and 17 assists. Shea Theodore has 55 points with 48 assists. Adin Hill has gone 32-13-5 with a 2.47 GAA and a .906 save percentage in goal for Vegas while Ilya Samsonov has gone 16-9-4 with a 2.82 GAA and an .891 save percentage this season.
Why the Vegas Golden Knights will win
- The Golden Knights have won each of their last six games against the Wild following a loss.
- The Wild have lost three of their last four night games following a road win.
- The Golden Knights have covered the puck line in each of their last six road games against Central Division opponents.
- The Wild have failed to cover the puck line in seven of their last eight night games against Western Conference opponents.
Vegas Golden Knights Player Prop Facts
- Tomas Hertl has scored at least one goal in seven of his last eight appearances with the Golden Knights as favorites against Central Division opponents.
- Mark Stone has recorded at least one assist in eight of his last nine appearances with the Golden Knights as road favorites against Central Division opponents.
- Tomas Hertl has recorded at least one point in each of his last seven road appearances against Western Conference opponents.
- Brayden McNabb ranks 1st in the Western Conference for Plus/Minus (+42) this season.
Wild Trying To Take Series Lead
Kirill Kaprizov has 55 points including 25 goals and 30 assists while Matt Boldy has 71 points including 26 goals and 45 assists. Marco Rossi has 60 points with 24 goals and 36 assists while Mats Zuccarello has 51 points with 18 goals and 33 assists. Filip Gustavsson has gone 31-19-6 with a 2.56 GAA and a .914 save percentage in goal for Minnesota while Marc-Andre Fleury is 14-9-1 with a 2.93 GAA and an .899 save percentage on the year. Jesper Wallstedt is 0-2 with a 4.09 GAA and an .843 save percentage this season.
Why the Minnesota Wild will win
- The Golden Knights have lost four of their last five games as favorites following a home loss.
- The Wild have won three of their last four games as home underdogs against Western Conference opponents.
- The underdogs have covered the puck line in each of the Wild’s last five games at Xcel Energy Center.
- The Golden Knights have failed to cover the puck line in each of their last five games following a home loss.
Minnesota Wild Player Prop Facts
- Marcus Johansson has scored a goal in each of his last four home appearances against Pacific Division opponents.
- Mats Zuccarello has recorded at least one assist in each of the Wild’s last four home games against Western Conference opponents.
- Mats Zuccarello has recorded at least one point in eight of his last nine appearances with the Wild as home underdogs against Western Conference opponents.
- Ryan Hartman has recorded two assists against the Golden Knights this season – equal-most against any opponent.
Total Goals Facts
- Each of the Golden Knights’ last seven road games following a loss have gone UNDER the total goals line.
- Each of the Wild’s last six games against the Golden Knights following a road win have gone UNDER the total goals line.
- Eight of the last nine Thursday night games have gone OVER the total goals line.
Vegas Golden Knights vs. Minnesota Wild Prediction
I’m on the Golden Knights here. Granted, Vegas was a much better home team than road team this season, but the same can be said for Minnesota as they were less effective at home and were better on the road. I just think that at it’s core, Vegas is the better team and won both meetings in Minnesota in the regular season as well. Give me the Golden Knights to retake home ice and take the series lead here.